


Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom The Different Story

by TheSkyandtheSun



Category: Jurassic World Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Jurassic World Fusion, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-10-04 22:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17312627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSkyandtheSun/pseuds/TheSkyandtheSun
Summary: Nine months after the fall of Masrani Global, Claire Dearing and Owen Grady must pick up the pieces of their lives. When a mysterious job offer comes from the Lockwood Manor, it's too good to say no. But you know how that old expression goes: when something's too good to be true...AU take on the events of JW: Fallen Kingdom.





	1. Second Chances

**Author's Note:**

> This story started out as an off-hand comment about the lack of character-driven plots in the Jurassic franchise and turned from frustration into a passion project. I wrote this purely for the fun of it. This will be updated weekly every Saturday even with no audience. But if you are here, thank you and enjoy the dinosaur-induced madness.

To Ms. Dearing,

Thank you for contacting the Lockwood Estate about the prospects of working as our publicist. I have examined your past experiences and believe you have the unique qualifications I am searching for. Please come to my manor on Thursday of next week by noon and we shall discuss it. 

Best,

Sir Benjamin Lockwood

Claire reread the email on her phone again, hardly believing that someone had actually replied. In the nine months since the fall of Jurassic World, her prospects for future employment had evaporated along with public dignity and peace of mind. She almost didn’t dare to hope things would go well during the trip further up Northern California.

“Ms. Dearing, we’re here.” 

Claire looked up. The massive black and gold doors of the Lockwood estate swung open. Beyond them lay row after row of pine trees. She could see hints of gabled roofs poking out of the forest. “Beautiful,” she whispered.

Samantha nodded. She pulled their Prius up to the manor’s door. The manor was mostly off-white marble with some red brick embellishments framing its walls. Black windowframes peered down at them. An elegant staircase led up the manor’s door. 

“Will you be needing any further assistance?” Samantha asked.

Claire grabbed her portfolio and climbed out of the passenger’s seat. “Just wait in the car. This shouldn’t take too long.”

She stepped out, taking in the warm summer air and the smell of pine. Lockwood’s gothic manor didn’t fit the North California atmosphere at all. I wonder what sort of man he really is, she thought. Eccentric, to say the least.

A man in a three-piece navy suit waited on the stairs. “Ah, Ms. Dearing. Welcome. I’m Eli Mills. I manage Sir Lockwood’s financial affairs.” 

They shook hands. His grip was firm but not crushing and his air relaxed but professional. She decided she liked him so far. Mills opened the doors for her to enter.  
Look at those elaborate silver handles, she thought. And the stone lions guarding the door. Stylish. 

The first thing she noticed were the life-sized models of dinosaurs in the hall down from the main lobby. The lobby itself had a typical Old Money air with its 19th century furnishings, but the hallway told Claire all she needed to know. She began to tremble. 

Not dinosaurs again! She started to turn around and managed to stop herself. Come on Claire. Pull yourself together. These are models. 

Mills, oblivious, gestured for her to take a seat on one of the plush couches. He spoke of Lockwood’s philanthropy, particularly towards the sciences and his lifelong fascination with dinosaurs. “As Sir Lockwood’s publicist, you’ll be communicating his desires to the press. You’ll talk to universities and companies to seek out the most promising paleontologists. All similar things to what you’ve done already.” 

“Sure, sure,” Claire said. “But… is Sir Lockwood sure he wants me to be his publicist?”

The gleam in Mills’ hazel eyes changed to something less than friendly. “He will consider you. Come, he’s waiting upstairs.”

What was that look for? Claire wondered.

As they went up, she spotted a pair of dark eyes watching her. A girl in a red jacket crouched behind a drawer in the hallway. It could have just been that Claire had dinosaurs on the brain, but there was something raptor-like about the girl’s posture. It didn’t help when her fingers curled slowly around a drawer handle the way Jurassic World’s raptors curled their fingers around their victims’ necks. 

Lockwood turned out to be an affable man who spent most of their ten-minute meeting praising Jurassic World’s accomplishments. “A bold experiment, even if it did not go as planned. I went there with my granddaughter on its opening day. Absolute joy,” he finished. Claire told him the story of her first encounter with a living dinosaur, and for a moment passion transcended fear. 

Given Lockwood’s age and confinement to a wheelchair, I probably won’t be his publicist for long, she realized. But he seems like a nice man. Even temporary employment at his estate would give me a chance to turn my life around. 

Her body relaxed. The smile she plastered on her face felt less forced. They shook hands and bid their farewells.

Samantha’s eyes widened when Claire reentered the car. “Why, Ms. Dearing! You’re practically glowing!”

Claire paused. “Why, I guess I am.” 

“I take it things went well.” Samantha gunned the engine. “Alright, back to San Fran.”

break

To Sir Lockwood,

Many thanks for the opportunity. I have done all the appropriate research required into the current institutions you donate to and the news outlets to speak to. I am confident I am the  
right person to be your publicist. Whatever decision you make, I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Claire Dearing

A couple weeks later, Claire opened her email box to find this waiting for her:

To Ms. Dearing,

After careful consideration, I have decided that you are indeed the best person for the position of publicist. I have attached the welcome packet for new hires. I hope it will answer any questions you may have. 

Now that you are officially part of my staff, I assume you will move in. Our staff is housed on the grounds to meet mutual needs of employer and employees. It is not required but recommended. San Francisco is a lovely area and I would not blame you for staying. Please report in at the date listed: 11/12/16

Congratulations to you.

Sir Benjamin Lockwood

Claire read the welcome manual. She decided they couldn’t pack their things fast enough.

The next morning was a blur as they headed up to the Lockwood Manor in two cars packed with luggage, Claire’s Prius and a rental. They unloaded into Claire’s new apartment, which they were pleased to note was soundproofed and surrounded by small trees to give the illusion of isolation from other apartments. 

“I’ll finish unpacking,” Samantha said. “Page if you need assistance.”

Claire met Mills again on the stairs. She was so excited and chattering happily that she didn’t noticed when Mills pressed a different elevator button leading them to the manor’s basement.

The metal doors opened into a slick, well-lit laboratory. The first thing she noticed was that it stank of cleaning detergents. Claire didn’t see any fossils lying around or on tabletops at all. In fact, all she saw were genetic sequencing machines, incubators, autoclaves, and workers dressed like they were in a clean room. Her eyes fell on one figure in particular, the only one not in lab gear. She knew him by his leather vest and unkempt hair before he even turned around. A lump caught in her throat. Owen Grady.

His eyes widened on seeing her. He waved awkwardly and walked around several crowded lab benches to reach her. She turned to Mills. “I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I,” said Owen. “But I don’t like it already.”

“Come, come,” Mills clapped his hands. “Sir Lockwood’s offers of employment were sincere. You were marketing expert for the world’s most successful theme park, Ms. Dearing. You are the leading expert in dinosaur behavior, Mr. Grady. Perfect for a full-time research position. Sir Lockwood would be hard-pressed to find anyone better. However, there are additional duties your posts require that we will go over now.” He ushered them deeper into the lab. 

They fell into step behind Mills. Slowly, the joy and surprise at seeing each other again evaporated from their faces. Everything felt too familiar, even down to the blue flourescent lighting. This could almost be Jurassic World again. 

“I’d like to introduce you to our main team of researchers,” Mills said. “Some of them, I believe you already know.”

Indeed, they did. Claire recognized most of the faces around the lab. But there was one face she hoped she would never see again. Dr. Henry Wu, creator of the Indominus rex. The last Claire had heard of Wu, he had been found guilty of scientific misconduct and banned from ever working in a laboratory again. There he was standing in front of a gene sequencer as if nothing had ever happened. Wu, for his part, didn’t look happy to see them either. 

“Now,” Mills said. “Sir Lockwood didn’t mention this, but shortly after Masrani Corp. went bankrupt, he offered to take the mess out of the federal government’s hands. For which, they were grateful. In doing so, he also picked up a… contract with the US military specifying that in exchange for funding the company’s labs would develop weaponized dinosaurs. Sir Lockwood doesn’t need military funding. He is, as you’ve seen, quite wealthy. However, a contract is a contract.”

“But, how does that work?” Claire stuttered. “Masrani Corp. is a company. Lockwood is an individual. Whatever contracts the military had with Masrani Corp. should have been void after it went bankrupt.”

Mills shook his head. “I won’t bother you with all the legalise, but thanks to Citizens United, a corporation is an individual. When my employer took responsibility for the company’s assets, the contract, obligations to employees, the whole shebang, transferred as if Masrani himself had written Sir Lockwood a will. He was, shall we say, displeased when he found the contract hidden in the small print.”

“So, he doesn’t like the idea. Smart man. Why is he going along with it? What good is a militarized dinosaur anyway?” Owen asked.

Mills’ smile reminded Claire of a cat about to spring onto a bird. “The military has methods of persuasion to reduce Sir Lockwood’s claim to ‘in name only’. In the end, he decided to go along with the contract, so that he might retain some control over production of these dinosaur weapons, as well as the rights to the technology already in existence. As for the merits of using dinosaurs in war, I’ll leave that explanation to Wu.” 

Wu looked irritated at being put on the spot. “I don’t entirely buy into it myself, but the idea is that the military has two major problems it hasn’t found a solution for until now: human error and machine error. Human error involves misidentifying targets, emotional instability, tactical, and logical errors. Machine error, of course, is faulty or inaccurate equipment. On the ground, both of these factors combined together make for spectacular failures. It’s sad to admit, but a human and a machine together make twice as many mistakes when neither is at the top of their game. Without machines, a human is oblivious to the world and weak. Without a human, a machine is severely limited by its programming.

“Raptors are smarter and more independent than our most sophisticated AIs. They possess senses on par with equipment used to guide soldiers across a battlefield. They are also as lethal and resilient as our best soldiers. As far as we know, they don’t develop mental disorders or cognitive biases. That makes them the perfect combination of traits the military needs on the battlefield. Think about it.”

“I am,” Owen said. “It sounds ridiculous.”

Wu smiled. “Well, clearly some top brass in the military disagree. They were willing to pull some major hijinks on Lockwood to make sure development happens.”

No one spoke for several seconds. Finally, Claire said, “Okay, fine. But what is he doing here?” She turned to Wu. “Compensation takes a lot of forms, none of which require violating court orders.”

Wu shrugged. “I’m a consultant, just as Mr. Grady is. The technicians will be doing the real work. But really, who else would they ask for help on this project? If anything, the I. rex worked a little too well. I realize that. That’s why we need to do things differently this time.”

“Which is where you come in,” Mills said. “The two of you together should be able to track down Blue, the last velociraptor, and bring her here.”

“What do you want with Blue?” Owen’s voice was flat but his gaze was fiercer than the dinosaur in question.

Wu answered. “We need her to mother the new hybrid the military wants created. The I. rex didn’t have anyone to raise her, so she grew into an uncontrollable monster. Any successful hybrid we make can’t just be a killing machine. It needs to be socialized.”

“Yeah,” Owen said. “I could have told you that before the park went to hell.”

Wu met Owen’s gaze. “The people we got to train the I. rex didn’t pull off what you did with your raptors. That’s why we want you on the team. But this is happening with or without you.”

“No, it won’t.” Claire set her jaw. “I’ll report this.”

Mills sighed. “Report what? Nobody’s done anything illegal.”

“Yet,” Owen said. 

“At any rate, who would listen to you now?” 

Claire’s eyes widened. Owen growled.

“Mills, shut up,” Wu snapped. He turned to Claire and Owen. “You heard what he said. Most of what you’ll be doing is public duties Lockwood needs done. The hybrid isn’t your problem once you bring Blue to us. You can come out of the shadows.” He lowered his voice and looked away. “I envy you. Since everyone knows I was involved with two failed dinosaur theme parks, my life would be over without this project.” 

“You know, that doesn’t tug my heartstrings,” Owen said.

Encouraged, Claire shook her head. “I’m not going to help you screw up again.” 

Dr. Wu closed his eyes. “Fair enough.”

Mills smiled. “I’ll give you a few days to think it over. In the meantime, you’ll do the jobs you’ve been hired to do. I don’t recommend trying to tell anyone outside the manor about what you’ve seen today. The military takes security very seriously.”


	2. Snatchers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gene stealers come to Nublar to harvest what Masrani Global left behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Change of setting. Don't worry, we'll get back to Claire and Owen soon enough.

Veronique cranked up the volume on her radio. Rain pounding on the roof of their metal shelter and roaring in streams down the sides made it almost impossible to manually spy on what other opportunists were doing on Nublar. But they still had their black market police scanner that worked surprisingly well considering the current weather conditions. Over its speakers, they heard a small submersible called Marine One report entering the Mosasaur tank. 

“This is crazy,” her partner said. “Nobody comes back from this island alive. That’s what I heard.” 

Veronique scowled. “Most people came back from Jurassic World alive. Otherwise, how could they have sued a multibillion-dollar company to oblivion? We’ll be fine.”

In the near-darkness, Marc’s eyes were all she could see. “I’m not talking about the damn tourists. I’m talking about poachers.”

“We’re not poachers, Marc,” she said soothingly. “We’re collecting blood samples. Now, come on. I’ve got something on my infrared goggles.”

“I don’t like this,” he said as they grabbed their gear. “How many people have been able to make off with this tech alive? Biosyn’s spies have been trying for years. Nothing.”

“Oh, stop complaining!” she said. “Be a man, will you?”

She emerged from the domed shelter gun first. The jungle was mostly empty of animal life. There were creatures in trees she figured were birds or small mammals from their outline. A faint orange trace in the underbrush didn’t look like anything modern. She could see the tiny creature creeping around. She crouched down and fired. 

She heard it wail and hop off. They walked after it. 

“Did you hit it?” Marc asked.

“Yeah, in the foot. Let’s not talk as much as possible.”

Marc nodded. Even if they couldn’t see any other dinosaurs around, their smell would get attention. 

Veronique doubted a dinosaur would be able to pick out the noise they were making above the rain. That was the whole point of coming here during such a bad storm. She’d read that   
animals would often hunker down and sleep during downpours. Our prehistoric targets will be sitting ducks, she thought.

Except this one wasn’t. As they headed deeper into the jungle, a hole in their plan became apparent. Where the foliage grew densely enough, the sound of rain went from a waterfall roaring to soft splatters and the howling winds became a breeze. Marc didn’t say anything, but she knew he would insist they turn around as soon as a large dinosaur came. They couldn’t count on it being deaf to their presence or the wind blowing their smell away. Veronique bit her lip.

Come on, you stupid lizard, she thought. Pass out already.

They kept following the dinosaur. Its hops began to slow, but it was still moving. Finally, after several minutes, it collapsed into a pile of leaves. 

Marc pulled out a syringe and searched for a vein. “This thing’s a midget. Foot tall at most. You sure we could get much for it?”

“It’s a dinosaur, right?” Veronique said. “Right now, dino DNA is going for billions on the black market.” 

“Right,” Marc inserted the syringe. He drew blood and pulled it out. “One down. V, given our cover’s not as good as we thought it would be, I don’t think we should aim for nine species.”

She considered the idea for a second before responding. “Five. Happy?”

He nodded. They continued deeper into the jungle.

Meanwhile, their walkie-talkies were connected to the police scanner. Veronique listened in on Marine One while Marc focused on an unidentified group south of them. Marine One’s   
team was on the opposite side of Nublar, but there was a chance they might run into the other team. Other than that, they couldn’t be sure if someone else was on the island with them.

“Marine One, respond! I’ve got to close the gate!” the walkie-talkie buzzed and crackled. “Marine One.” The speaker, a middle-aged man, sounded frightened.

Sounds like they’re having problems, she thought. A thin smile crossed her lips. Your loss.

A roar sounded through the walkie-talkie. She heard the man screaming and running. Then silence.

Shit. She turned the walkie-talkie off. 

They didn’t see any dinosaurs for a while. When they found a road, they followed it west toward Mount Sibo. Veronique figured they would find more dinosaurs closer to the center of the island. What kind and in what condition, she wasn’t sure.

A crash interrupted her thoughts. She turned around to see that Marc had tripped over something. A leg bone. She dug it out of the mud and slipped it through her belt. Bones have DNA and this leg bone was too large and its shape too different to belong to the same species as their blood donor. It was a lucky find. One she intended to keep.

Even during a storm it was still maddeningly hot. Their waterproof suits did nothing to prevent moisture built up from sweat. And there was something in the air. Pollen of some kind that made her nose itch like crazy. She stifled a sneeze.

Marc grabbed her shoulder and pointed to their left. Sure enough, a bus-sized form lay nearby, glowing yellow through the goggles. From the shape of its head, it was probably a carnivore. She shot it twice, just in case. The dinosaur didn’t react. 

Now to wait for the tranquilizer to take effect, she thought.

They stood shivering for several minutes. The dinosaur shuddered a little. It was likely as miserable in the rain and cold as they were. And that pollen sure is heavy. She started breathing through her mouth, but could feel her throat starting to swell. She reached into her first aid kit for something to blow her nose on. 

“ACHOO!”

Marc looked from her to their target in horror. The flat, sleek head slowly lifted. They backed into a tree and crouched, trying to look as small and unappetizing as possible.   
Perhaps it wasn’t fooled, or maybe it was too angry at their intrusion. Whichever it was, the dinosaur roared, revealing row after row of sharp, serrated teeth. It stomped forward. 

Marc and Veronique ran. The dinosaur followed, growling. She expected it to be cautious in the storm. They had to be careful as well to avoid tripping on tree roots or slipping in mud.   
But even in open areas, neither of them were especially fast runners. The dinosaur seemed to be coming at them in slow motion. But it wasn’t any less aggressive or persistant. 

What is with these damn dinosaurs and tranqs, she thought. She sneezed again.

Sneezing didn’t make it easier to breathe. Her gag reflex kicked in and she fell to her knees puking up mucus. 

The dinosaur’s foot came down, pinning her to the ground and knocking the air out of her. Veronique threw up her dinner, oblivious to the gunshots and roaring around her. She couldn’t breathe. Her vision swam.

This is it! I’m gonna die!

After what seemed like an eternity, the crushing weight lifted off of her. Veronique lay unconscious in her own vomit. 

When she opened her eyes, they were still in the jungle. Marc was washing his mouth out with rainwater. “Di you gedda blood?” she wheezed.

“For Christ’s sake,” Marc muttered. “You’re welcome.”

She laughed weakly. “You know… I’m grateful,” she said. He chuckled too, despite himself.

They followed its trail, with his arm supporting her waist. The dinosaur made it halfway back to its nest before it collapsed. Marc poked a syringe into its neck. He drew its blood and slipped the syringe into a metal case. “Alright,” he told Veronique. “Now we get you back to the shelter.” 

She nodded. 

Just then, a bullet struck the tree next to Marc. Veronique felt her belt for her rifle and found nothing. She dropped to the ground, arms shielding her head. Marc fired his rifle off into the jungle. His shot missed the retreating gunman, who disappeared into the foliage. 

“Looks like our team from the south made it up here,” he said. 

He half-dragged her toward the shelter. She was so dizzy she could barely walk. “I hope this blood really is worth that much. I never wanna do this again.”

“Don’t worry,” she gurgled. “After this, you can do anything you want.”   
“Did you hear that?”

They stopped. Rain dripped down through holes in the canopy. No wind blew through the trees. Veronique didn’t see anything through her goggles. But she could hear what Marc heard: a soft hooting cry. She didn’t remember reading about owls on Nublar. The cry came again, seemingly all around them. Marc leaned her against a rock and walked around the little copse of trees they stood under. He shrugged.

Suddenly, he screamed and fell onto his back. Veronique couldn’t see what was wrong with her goggles on. When she removed them, she gasped in shock. His face was covered in black goo. It smelled awful, like rotten eggs.

Something dropped from the tree above them. Veronique yelped and backed away. 

What looked like a bipedal lizard with a flaming red crest stood on her partner’s chest. It hissed at her and took a step forward onto Marc’s face. He flailed underneath, trying to throw it off. Veronique prayed he would reach for his gun. She had lost hers when the bus sized dinosaur stepped on her. She fired a dart into its neck. 

She expected the dinosaur to run off or attack. Instead, it lifted its foot off Marc’s face. Marc didn’t-or couldn’t- use that to his advantage. In fact, he wasn’t moving. Veronique gaped in horror as it leaned over and tore his throat open. Then it lifted its bloody snout, glaring at her as if to say “you’re next”.

She put her goggles back on and sprinted past it. Pollen still clogged her throat and her coordination was poor enough that she got lost twice. But she did make it back to the shelter. The entire time, she thought she could still hear the hooting cry. As she keyed open the door, she heard nothing. Obviously, the dinosaur was satisfied with what food it had. 

She struggled out of her camoflague suit. The leg bone had somehow stayed under her belt the entire time. She didn’t care at the moment. Marc was dead and she couldn’t remember being this physically uncomfortable in her life. After searching around the piles of supplies for medicines, she swallowed down antihistimines and antacids. 

Veronique climbed into her sleeping bag sobbing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of people wanted dilophosaur back. So did I. You're welcome.


	3. Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire and Owen must make a decision.

At 2 AM, Owen and Claire sat together in his beat up old Jeep in the staff parking lot. Neither wanted to go back to their new apartments. They switched off their phones and sat breathing the cool mountain air. The moon was too low to see by, so they’d stumbled around by the light of Owen’s pocket flashlight. Somewhere in the distance, an owl announced its dominion over the forest to the world.

“Wish it wasn’t so dark,” Owen said. “This has to be one of the nicest forests in NorCal.” 

Claire sat with her hands folded in her lap. She looked to Owen as if she had aged several years. He had noticed right away that she also looked about twenty pounds lighter. “Hey,” he   
murmured. “Talk to me.”

She sniffled. “I haven’t seen you since the trial. How have you been?”

“Ah… could be better,” he said. “Living in my Jeep.”

As if she noticed all the empty beer packs around them for the first time, she asked, “you working on becoming an alcoholic?”

Owen laughed. “No, I had work. Ex-Marine friend owed me a favor. I delivered supplies to his bar and took out the trash.” 

“Oh, that’s good.”

They sat in silence for a moment. 

“So, what about you?” he finally couldn’t take it anymore.

Claire shook her head. “Lost my house.” 

“What?” The shock was apparent in his voice. Not wanting to give the impression he didn’t believe her, Owen leaned toward her and said softly, “Sorry. You were always so money-savvy, I figured you’d have savings for your savings.”

Claire snickered. “I didn’t get paid that much, Owen. It’s amazing how fast it all ran out. Then my sister’s family tried to sue me for neglecting Zach and Grey.”

“Why… but the kids were fine! A little scratched up but alive. Largely thanks to you.”

“Their family didn’t think so,” Claire was crying now. Owen dug around in the Jeep for a Kleenex box. He found one covered in bootprints and stale beer. Claire hesitated before blowing her nose on a tissue. “I was on everything the doctors could think of during the Masrani Corps. trial: therapy, drugs, yoga. Nothing worked. I couldn’t eat or sleep. When Samantha wheeled me into court to face my family, the judge took one look at me and dismissed the case.”

“Shit,” Owen said. “I’m sorry. Who’s Samantha?”

“My caregiver. I couldn’t walk for a few months after I got out of the hospital. Don’t know where I’d be without her. She was with me through this whole sorry mess.” She sniffled and cried a little more. “And now life gives me this crap,” Claire waved a hand toward the manor. “I never want to see a dinosaur again.”

Owen nodded. He waited a while before speaking. “I’m actually okay with it.”

The tissue fell from her hand. “Why?”

“I did a terrible thing when I left Blue on the island alone,” Owen said. “If she isn’t dead by now, I want to correct that mistake. I said good-bye because I didn’t see how I could take her with me. Now she has somewhere to go where she’ll be taken care of.” 

“So, you want to go back to Isla Nublar? Risk getting killed because you have a guilt complex over an animal.”

Owen shook his head. “That’s not the only reason. Claire, how did you pay for all of that treatment? Samantha’s wages? I have veteran benefits but your healthcare was attached to Masrani Corps. wasn’t it?”

“Medi-Care. How is that relevant in any way to you going back to Nublar?”

“Medi-Care, because you don’t have a job. Probably no social life anymore, either. When I had work, I didn’t get out of my Jeep because I didn’t want anyone to see me. Same for you?”

Claire nodded. 

Owen continued, “I don’t like Wu, but we have something in common. Nobody will touch us with a ten-foot pole right now. It took over a decade for the public to get over the San Diego incident so Masrani could build a park. During that time, hardly anybody who worked on the original park could find employment.”

“How do you know?” 

“I found them on Facebook. It’s the same for Jurassic World employees, too. Now that two parks have failed, you can bet it’ll take a lot longer for people to stop being angry. Can we last until then?”

Owen knew the answer for him was yes. Years ago, he had bought land up in the Sierra Nevadas to build a log cabin on. His work at Jurassic World kept him too busy to do any development. After the trial, he had all the time in the world. His cabin was mostly finished, built from leftover cedar planks from a local forestry company. The furnishings were Spartan, but they were his handiwork. He was proud of them. 

Claire, however, couldn’t live without a soft bed in a warm house. She wasn’t handy with tools and would probably freak if she had to catch her own meals. He respected that. Not everyone was suited for the rustic life. But that meant she had fewer choices than he did. He could have walked away from Lockwood’s offer, to hell with everything, and disappeared into the Sierra Nevadas. Claire still insisted on wearing those high heels everywhere. She wouldn’t last out in the wilds even with his help. And of course, they’d be fighting about how to live every day. 

In the near-darkness, he smiled at the irony of it all. We love each other. But we can’t agree on anything... just like me and the other girl I need to make amends with. Ah, well. I’m going to take this job. For both of them.

Owen said none of this to Claire. He simply held her in his arms until they were ready to face the world again.

break

The next morning, Owen left the Jeep to go down to the lab. Claire was still sleeping. He wondered how long it had taken her to fall asleep. Mills met him at the elevator doors with the same not-quite-friendly smile he’d greeted Owen and Claire with yesterday. The smile of a snake. “Morning, Mr. Grady.”

“Morning,” Owen replied gruffly. He wouldn’t shake Mills’ hand.

Undeterred, Mills introduced Owen to the team. “These are men and women who will have your life in their hands on Isla Nublar.”

There were twenty of them. Their leader, Wheatley, was a tall, muscular man whose demeanor screamed military to those in the know. He also wore two necklaces. Owen wasn’t sure, but he thought one had shark teeth on it. The other was a plain a sterling silver chain with empty hooks. 

What’s going onto those? he wondered. “Owen Grady,” he held out his hand.

Wheatley took it, almost crushing it in his larger hand. “The raptor whisperer? Nice to meet you. Now, let’s get one thing straight: this is my team and safety is my top concern. You stick to your animals and follow orders.” 

Won’t forget it, Owen thought. He was familiar enough with domineering types to know it wasn’t worth stepping out of line. He was somewhat happy to meet Zia, a veterinarian, and Franklin, a hacker. They seemed decent, if somewhat young. The rest of the team consisted of armed soldiers in camoflague gear. 

“Alright,” Wheatley said. “We leave for Nublar in two hours. Wu tells me the place runs on geothermal energy, so everything should still be working. Grady, you’ll lead us to Central Command, where Franklin will use the park’s tracking system to find your raptor.”

Owen nodded. “Sounds good. So, why did you need Claire for this?”

“Because the computer in Central Command is keyed to my handprint.”  
Owen turned around. There she was walking toward them. He had heard the elevator door open moments earlier but hadn’t looked to see who it was. He smiled. 

Still beautiful, he thought. And I have to give her points for showing up in her condition. Fear and fatigue had taken the color from her skin. Though I bet she’d be more comfortable if she got rid of those stupid heels.

Owen felt a pang of jealousy when Wheatley graciously took her hand. 

“Welcome to the team, Miss,” Wheatley said.

Eight hours later, three armored vans rumbled through the jungles of Isla Nublar. To everyone’s pleasant surprise, the sound seemed to scare rather than attract dinosaurs. They didn’t see a single one on the beaches. They drove to the park’s old headquarters, covered in nine months of dust and grime. Claire and Franklin rebooted the tracking system. It was so straightforward it seemed routine.

Frequently, they would pass by the decaying structures of Jurassic World overgrown with rich foliage and fungi. Franklin insisted on stopping to take pictures. “I don’t know why. Something about nature reclaiming what we give up just hits me there.”

Hits me there, too, Owen thought. He watched the small yellow dot on the computer screen he and Zia shared that indicated Blue was nearby. She must hear the noise. Why isn’t she moving?

”Stop,” he told the driver. “She’s just a few feet away.”

Owen stepped out of the van. He didn’t see Blue among the foliage. An old overturned jeep sporting the Jurassic Park logo lay against a tree right where the tracker said she would be... 

He peered closer. Something moved under the jeep. 

A familiar head slid out from under the jeep. Golden eyes blinked sleepily and focused on him. 

Owen smiled. “Hey girl.” 

The head pulled back. A moment later, Blue emerged completely from underneath the jeep and confirmed Owen’s fears. Life on Nublar had not been kind to her without her pack. Her skin stretched thin over bone, so pale that even her distinctive metallic side stripes were barely visible. Her flanks were covered in scratches from fights with other dinosaurs, some fresh and inflamed. 

Owen reached into his pocket. “Blue, I brought you a treat.”

He threw a strip of bacon at her. It smacked Blue right in the face and fell to the forest floor. She blinked as if she didn’t understand what just happened. Then her nostrils quivered. Her swollen tongue lolled out as she bent over to scarf up the bacon. 

“Good girl,” he walked closer to her waving another strip. “More. Here.”

Once more, Blue didn’t seem to react. Her gaze wandered away from him, never focusing on anything in particular. She could smell more food in his pocket, but simply stood there salivating. 

She’s really out of it, Owen thought. 

Blue started to cough. Owen watched in dismay as she threw up the bacon and slumped to the ground. “Zia!” he yelled. 

The veterinarian came running. “My god.” Wide-eyed, she bent over Blue’s body and then met Owen’s eyes. “Don’t worry. I can get her through this. Hey!” she called to the other vans. “I need a stretcher.” 

Boom. Boom. Boom.

“Did you hear that?” Owen asked.

Zia’s eyes widened. “Yeah. Hey, stretcher. Faster!”

It took two stretchers to get Blue inside the medical van. There wasn’t much room for the three of them. Owen found himself trapped between the door and Blue’s feet. It didn’t help when the driver stomped on the accelerator to get away from whatever was coming. Accelerating and then swerving to avoid trees. 

Now I know how maracas feel! he thought. The medical bag bounced off the table and hit him in the face. 

“Fluids, antibiotics, anti-nausea, bandages,” Zia counted on her fingers. “I need a blood sample.”

“I think that’s going to have to wait until-“ Owen began. A roar drowned out the rest of his words.

“What is that?” the driver yelled. 

There were no windows in the back but Owen and Zia were familiar enough with dinosaur calls to recognize it. “Baryonyx,” Zia said. “Fish-eater. He probably wants us out of his territory.”

“Tell him we’re leaving!” 

“This isn’t time to be funny!” Owen shouted.

As Zia predicted, the baryonyx didn’t chase them for long. Once it gave up, the driver slowed down. Owen rubbed his sore cheek and the two of them got to work. Zia hardly needed Owen’s help to hold Blue down. The raptor was too weak and dizzy to resist. Zia hooked her up to an IV while Owen cleaned out the infected cuts on her legs, trying not to think about how close his mistake had come to being irreversible.


	4. Interlude 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wu considers the hybrid's design.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this one's a shorty. But I think it gets its point across...

Wu watched the familiar pattern of a velociraptor’s gene sequence flash across the screen. He closed the tab of As, Ts, Cs, and Gs and opened a new tab with the model of the proposed hybrid. It was much taller than a velociraptor, with far stronger front limbs, actual hands, and a more complex brain. He sat trying to think of how to change the genes, or at least the activation sequence, to produce the desired result. After a few hours, it became clear he was stuck. So were the scientists he was supposed to be advising. 

Creating the physical appearance the military wanted was simple enough. Wheatley had been very impressed with its design. The problem, he explained to the others, was metabolism. 

“My model predicts the hybrid’s body will be a black hole for calories,” he said. “Now, the military’s plan depends on the dinosaurs being at the top of their game. Well-fed and watered. With the design we have now, this hybrid will have to eat constantly to maintain its cognitive functions.”

Seven weary faces stared at him. Finally, one of the scientists said, “That would certainly make it a motivated killer.” 

“A little too motivated,” Dr. Grover, the head scientist, snapped. “The last thing we need is a constantly hangry dinosaur.”

They chuckled, but Wu didn’t think it was that funny. Dr. Grover gave everyone a ten-minute break. Wu breathed a sigh of relief. His back ached from sitting for too long. He wanted a shower and for their military “supervisors” to stop glaring at him.

The elevator dinged and its doors opened. Maybe it was Mills. Mills would at least let him go back to his apartment to bathe.

“Coming through!” He recognized Zia’s voice. “I need space for my patient!”

Patient. The mission had been a success. 

Delighted, Wu came around from the left side of the T-shaped lab for a look at the intended mother of his next creation. He couldn’t see much at first with all of the technicians Zia had recruited to help her. They bustled around Blue, taking blood samples and pumping her full of drugs. What little he did see told him she was close to dead. Wu’s heart sank. He wanted to help in any way he could, but doubted her “trainer” would want help from him. Owen had bought into the myth of the mad scientist as deeply as everyone else had. Unable to do anything, he simply waited.

The technicians dispersed to run their blood samples or to throw their injection needles away. Blue lay unconscious on an operating table, chest barely moving and jaw hung open. Owen gently stroked her face. Claire glanced uncomfortably from Blue to the fluid bag trickling its lifesaving nutrients into the raptor’s arm. Zia concentrated so intensely on studying the blood test results, she seemed unaware of anything else. Some of his staff paused to watch in awe.

Wu felt a pang of respect. These three weren’t geniuses, yet the success of this project hinged just as much on their connection to Blue as it did to his team’s ingenuity. Suddenly, the lights went on in his head. He’d forget about the fancy physical features for now. His challenge was to replicate in DNA what he saw before him.


	5. The New Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire gets into trouble. Owen and Blue rekindle their friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was hard to write. And a trigger warning: there are references to sexual abuse.

Claire entered the conference room in a state somewhere between excited and nervous. Two weeks in, she was starting to get into the swing of things. Courtesy calls. Introductions. Coffee and lunch. Associates. All familiar routines for her. No one had slammed any doors in her face, metaphorically or otherwise. She hoped it would stay that way. Mills seemed relaxed as he pulled documents from his briefcase. She admired the bird’s-eye maple panels on the walls as he set up. He smiled sweetly at her and gestured for her to take a seat.

“Okay, today we’ll be looking at the Palentological Society of New Hampshire,” he said. “You’ve read the overview of their work. It’s time we talked about our rivals. We’re not the only ones looking to sponsor these rising young stars but we have to be sure we are the ones who do it.”

“Sure,” Claire said, trying to seem as perky as possible. 

As Mills talked, her perkiness felt more and more forced. This meeting was shaping up to be more like war strategy than PR. When he got to her role in securing the sponsorship, she stuttered, “Wait. You want me to do what?”

“Dig up some of the less appealing aspects of these other potential sponsors and bring them to light. Discretely, of course. Leave nothing that will lead back to Sir Lockwood.”

“What does this have to do with funding research?”

He smiled again. “Nothing direct. However, it is vital to our securing the sponsorship. Competition between sponsors is just as fierce as that between the recipients. I think we all agree that not only do recipients need to deserve their cash, sponsors need to deserve the honor of serving the public. It’s unfortunate that many so-called philanthropists are actually shady people. They keep money from their dealings while benefitting from a positive image. It’s disgusting, really. I have seen so much of this since becoming Sir Lockwood’s financial manager. It saddens me how few are aware of just how despicable these people really are. In an ideal world, everyone gets only what they deserve. Your work will be a part of making that world, Ms. Dearing.” 

Claire nodded. And what about Sir Lockwood’s shady little deal with the military? She thought. Even if it was an accident, I doubt you want me to bring that to the public eye. Was it even an accident? She wasn’t sure she believed Mills’ claim about the contract. 

Aloud, she said, “Absolutely. Now, how am I supposed to do that?”

“Well, I don’t know exactly how our other PR reps did it. They worked closely with the media is all I know. Money is my forte.” 

She nodded again. “I’ll have to do some research.” 

“Good,” he said. “Bring your ideas to our next meeting.”

They stood up. Claire said, “If I decide though, that this isn’t how I want to approach this, I will bring another strategy.”

Mills’ face froze. She guessed he was trying to look blank, but hints of a smirk crept into his expression. “Our PR experts found that this is most effective.”

Well, that was surreal. Claire thought as she headed for the lab. I don’t think he’s used to boundaries. I better make sure he knows he can’t tell me how to do my job!

The lab was bustling. It sounded as though they were still working on Blue. Claire went over to the corner where Blue and Owen were to give support. No one could figure out why the raptor nearly flatlined until Zia did a test for parasites. “Man,” she shook her head at the results. “How many nasties can one dinosaur carry?”

“Are we-?” Claire began.

“No,” Zia smiled. “Not at risk, unless you’re part bird.”

“She kinda looks like a bird when her red crest sticks up,” Owen teased.

Claire scowled and instinctively straightened her bangs. Zia ignored him. “Okay, we need to kill those parasites or we’re just going to keep feeding them instead of her.”

Treatment turned out to be several months of injections. I can sympathize, Claire thought. First few months of therapy were drugs, drugs, and more drugs. 

Once Blue was able to walk again, getting her to cooperate was difficult even with Owen’s help. She learned that a trip to Wu’s lab meant a painful jab in her leg and hours of dizziness. During lunch breaks, Owen and Zia contributed to staff gossip by describing the antics Blue got up to. The raptor would prance around the half-acre of forest Sir Lockwood set aside for her, show off her hunting skills, and preen to convince her alpha that she was healthy. It was hilarious gossip, until Owen nearly lost an eye. Blue had kicked him in the face on realizing her tactics didn’t work. After that, Claire made a point of being present during those visits. Not because she could help, but because she noticed a long time ago that Owen was more careful around her. Despite all the fuss, Owen thrived. He was able to study Blue again. The possibility of doing the same for her offspring intrigued him. Claire couldn’t remember seeing him so happy before. 

Her own work felt lackluster at best, despicable at worst. She really didn’t give a damn about all these paleontologists, museums, or universities. Having to collect dirt on other sponsors and arranging deals with media authors to air out those secrets felt slimy, even when she thought it justly deserved. Marketing at Jurassic World may have been cut throat, but at least her duties had involved elevating her company as opposed to trashing others. 

Still, professional dignity demands excellence, regardless of my feelings about the job, she told herself.

She chose the most promising recipients for grant money based on three major criteria: uniqueness, need, and market potential. The last one struck her as rather questionable for philanthropy but Mills insisted he would sign off on money transfers only if that possibility of future profit existed. 

“Just think of all the things we could do with this,” Mills would say during their meetings. This time he was reading a new paper describing intact cell tissue in fossils. Whatever discovery scientists cranked out, Mills was ready with a price tag.

In the old days, Claire thought ironically, I would have considered him a go-getter. Now he’s just seven kinds of willfully ignorant. Did he learn nothing from all that’s happened?

“You know, most of those fossils are incomplete. That intact tissue may not have any viable genes. And dinosaur behavior ‘discoveries’ are a lot of guesswork. That’s why paleontologists were so excited when InGen brought dinosaurs back,” she reminded him. It was one of those bits of information she picked up at Jurassic World.

He shrugged. “Well, there’s far more species than InGen ever brought back. The guesses are all we have.”

“Yeah, but we shouldn’t assume that the guess is what we’ll get.”

Mills smiled the way most people smile at small children. “Duly noted.”

She soon discovered that working alongside Mills was like living with a cobra. The man had an obsession with optimizing his employer’s business affairs. Affairs that somehow involved tarnishing rival individuals and organizations behind the scenes more than doing actual work, from the amount of time he spent talking about it during meetings. She expressed her disapproval on several occasions. Each time, he aimed that sweet smile at her, but the look in his hazel eyes was one of pure hatred. “But Claire, you know all about the power of public opinion.”

I have to hand it to this guy, Claire thought. He sure can look innocent. But the gleam in his eye whenever the chance to earn more money comes up… Yikes. She knew his type, but hadn’t seen anyone quite this single-minded before. I wonder what skeletons he might have hidden in his closet. He’s so obsessed with other people’s secrets it practically begs the question. 

It didn’t help that Lockwood wasn’t as involved with the decisions as she thought he would be. He couldn’t meet with staff members more than once a week. Most of his hours were spent in intensive care or educating his granddaughter. Balancing out Mills’ greed with common sense took most of Claire’s energy. Brushing off his advances took whatever was left. Even in the manor’s mostly supportive environment, she hadn’t gotten to a healthy weight or haunting memories of the I. rex out. She started ditching staff meals, preferring Samantha’s company or to sleep in her apartment. 

After a month of clashing with Mills, she complained to Lockwood. He assured her he was on her side and apologized for lying to her about the job. If this had happened at Jurassic World, she would have been offered a substantial bribe. Instead, Lockwood gave her more paid free time and ordered Mills to apologize. 

She knew from the expression Mills wore as he did so that it didn’t matter what she told Lockwood about his behavior. In fact, trying to set boundaries seemed to make the financial manager genuinely angry. He directed that anger towards her as often as he could in subtle ways that appeared to others as constructive criticism or jokes. But in reality, it seemed to her that he wanted everyone to dismiss her as incompetent or unstable. And she knew that there was truth to the latter. Sometimes she wasn’t emotionally stable. She was jumpy and permanently tired, which didn’t help at all. Claire avoided him even more, spending the paid free time she had with other staff, most of whom supported her efforts to rebuild her reputation, and on learning. Lockwood’s library was one of the best she had ever seen. The first time she walked in, her mouth dropped open.

It’s literally walls of books. I bet the architect built it this way just to fit all those books in here. Now that’s dedication, she thought.

A hand grabbed her arm. Claire shrieked and threw a punch in the general direction of whoever touched her. Her fist met air.

Confused, she looked down. Her eyes met another pair of equally startled eyes. It was the little girl she had seen wandering the manor a few times before. 

“Excuse me,” Maisie said. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Please don’t be angry at me.” 

Claire felt awful. “No, I’m sorry. I’m not angry. I was just frightened. Ah, I want to read some books.”

Maisie smiled. “Oh. I’m doing self-study right now. I’ll show you around.”

It became a habit of Claire’s to wander the rows of books during the small hours of the morning with Lockwood’s granddaughter. The two often sat together on plush armchairs reading and chatting. Best of all, Maisie never asked her about dinosaurs. Those moments were so comfortable she could almost ignore the shadowy project happening under her feet.

Gossip about the project’s progress inevitably reached her ears from the staff. Janitors especially, since they constantly cleaned the lab. But why are they telling me about this? Claire wondered. Do I look like a hub for HR complaints? It didn’t take long for her to realize that she was the closest thing they had to HR and now that she was one of them, she would hear everything. Except from Owen. He seemed more aware of her need for peace and only told her about the most important things going on in the lab. She learned from him that Blue recovered in time for the new hybrid’s development. Wu would collect Blue’s genetic material. The hybrid would be a genuine descendant of Jurassic World’s last raptor.

“The process is a simple series of steps,” Wu explained to Owen and Claire during one of Blue’s medical visits. “This 3-D printer prints the DNA. Then our technician swaps it with the genetic material in one of Blue’s egg cells. Once we confirm the hybrid is alive, we-“ he made a fist and brought it to the palm of his other hand. “-Pop it into Blue.”

Claire thought of artificial insemination of cows. This would be much stranger, since the baby would have DNA from multiple species as well as Blue herself. More like that famous sheep clone, Dolly. Dolly had a surrogate mother completely unrelated to the original DNA donor. No one ever mentioned what became of that ewe after she gave birth to Dolly. I feel sorry for Blue, she thought. I hope she’ll be okay.

“How many tries does this take?” Owen asked. His expression suggested he didn’t know whether to be amazed or nervous. 

“Typically, about 100-200,” Wu said. “The nucleus of an egg is tiny. It’s very easy to miss.”

Owen grinned. “I’m gonna be a grandpa.”

Claire smiled. He actually likes that idea. The smile disappeared from her face. This is just more proof marriage was never going to work out between us.

“If you say so.” Wu glanced at the working technician’s back. “Once he gets the nucleus into the egg, then comes the real work. We’ll be heading into uncharted territory, both of us.” He directed that statement at Owen. The ex-scientist had been nonchalant the entire time. Now it looked to Claire that Wu was challenging him.

Owen met Wu’s eyes. “Yeah. I don’t see this ending well. Not because I don’t trust Blue or myself.” He chuckled sardonically. “I never thought Blue would be a mother. Or that we’d all end up doing mad science in somebody’s basement. Life’s an unpredictable bitch, isn’t she? Throws all sorts of curveballs we have to run after before they break any windows.”

Claire raised an eyebrow. 

“The consequences are too high to fail this time,” Wu put his hands behind his back so Owen wouldn’t see them shaking.

He’s terrified. Claire thought. Terrified people make mistakes.

“Because if this doesn’t work, there’s gonna be hell to pay,” Owen nodded. “What is it with you and breaking bigger and bigger windows?”

Claire didn’t wonder. She understood the urge to exceed expectations. To go further than anyone else. 

“No career is without risk,” Wu said. “In my case, though, my career became my coffin. I successfully cloned extinct animals. Ever since, all anyone ever asks me to do is similar risky, illegal shit I can’t say no to. Because at the end of the day, I have bills to pay and the consequences of that first failure won’t just disappear. Every day. All day.”

Owen shook his head. Claire looked down at her hands. Hopefully, no one noticed she had been nodding. It wasn’t just ambition. Responsibility is a powerful motivator. One uniting these former Jurassic World employees. The fact that they were trapped into doing the project by public opinion just made it worse. 

“You don’t like me very much,” Wu said. 

Owen said nothing.

Wu smiled. “I’m not worth it.”

“Yet you insist on dragging us into your redemption quests.”

“Ah, remember I didn’t make you take this job,” Wu waved a finger at him. 

“You really think making a dinosaur that won’t break out and kill everyone is going to fix anything?”

Wu lowered his finger and looked down at his hands. “It would silence my conscience to know I finally got it right. I’ve learned not to ask any more of this world.”

break

Two months passed. Claire began to appear as Lockwood’s representative alongside Mills at universities, scientific conferences, and public speaking events all over the US and Europe. She had been too frightened to do more than conference calls and private meetings for a long time. When it became clear that public opinion was turning around, she changed her mind. She took a certain pleasure in the evident surprise on people’s faces when she arrived. That’s right. I’m back.

No one made a fuss about it. She was sure people talked trash when she wasn’t there to hear. But hosts received them graciously wherever they went. Mills even refrained from aiming creepy stares and flirty one-liners at her during those events. The public front they put on gave the impression of a perfect professional relationship. The manor staff referred to them as “Lockwood’s Duo”. She didn’t appreciate it and could tell Mills didn’t either. With each day he was forced to be polite to her in public, he tormented her in private. The question about Mills’ potential dirty secrets and her desire to get him off her back nagged at her so much that she bought a little camera and hid it in the conference room where she knew Mills often looked over his files.

Should I tell Owen about this guy harassing me? She pondered during a meeting. He’ll probably knock Mills’ lights out. If that happens, I’ll probably never see Owen again. Mills will destroy him. He’ll destroy me, too. Things are finally starting to look up again. I don’t want to ruin my chances of leaving on my terms.

A pile of papers thudded onto the desk in front of her. Claire yelped.

Mills loomed over her, fingers rapping the table lightly. “I realize this isn’t the most exciting meeting we have ever had, but do pay attention Ms. Dearing.”

She shuffled the papers, trying to calm herself. “I think The London Fossil Society would be the best recipient,” she said.

Mills agreed. He put the papers in his briefcase and, smirking, laid his hand on top of hers. She fled back to her apartment, his cruel smile lodged in her mind. 

“I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” she told Samantha. 

“I’m sorry. I can help file an official complaint,” Samantha said. “Um, Miss? If I might ask where would you go?”

Claire flopped down onto her bed. “Nowhere, Samantha. No one else has suggested they want me to work for them and if I start looking for a new job, Mills will find out.”

“I see. I could look. No one pays much attention to me. Is public sector fine?” 

“Yes, it is,” Claire smiled. “Thank you so much.”

While Samantha combed the government’s hiring list and her hidden camera slowly gathered data, she began to follow Owen down to the lab for Blue’s check-ups. At the very least, it was an excuse to get away from Mills. She did it more for Owen’s company. It was the only time they saw each other besides during lunch breaks. And of course, the parental joy radiating from Owen was uplifting. Illegal or not, creating dinosaurs was still thrilling. She noted with some amusement that his raptor looked more and more like a Pilates ball. 

Her investigation into Mills moved slowly, due to the sheer volume of financial papers and the fact that their contents were often completely out of context. So she focused mostly on her relationship with Owen. To her dismay, he seemed more concerned about Blue. As the weeks passed, he listened less and less to her worries. 

“Shouldn’t Blue be sitting on a nest now?” He asked Zia during a check-up. 

Zia clicked her tongue. “Ordinarily, yes. Check this out.” She held an x-ray up to their faces. 

Claire hadn’t expected to see an egg inside Blue, shell and all. Even more surprising was the well-developed embryo inside. Claire could see limbs, a neck and tail, even the beginnings of a face. “Wow.”

Zia grinned, causing her glasses to slide down her nose. “Keeping the baby inside longer increases its chances of survival.”

As the hybrid grew, Blue started coming every week. It worried Owen so much that all he talked about was how uncomfortable she felt. After the third conversation she was tired of listening. She understood that being a researcher was important to him, but Mills was rapidly becoming her personal demon. She needed a friend now, not a colleague. Owen didn’t seem ready to deliver on that, which put her in a quandary since he was the only one she really trusted. When Zia and Franklin invited her to lunch one day, she almost didn’t go.

For the first ten minutes, she sat there quietly nibbling her sandwich. Owen joined in and started talking about the hybrid. She didn’t find that any more compelling than his previous conversations. “It’s so much larger than a normal velociraptor, it’s crushing Blue’s insides as it grows.” He shook his head and took a bite from his sandwich.

“Is that going to cause problems?” Franklin sputtered. “Besides the obvious one?”

Zia shook her head. “If worst comes to worst, we can give Blue oxytocin shots. That’ll get her to pop the egg out.”

“Thanks for the imagery,” Franklin glanced down at his omelet. He had been hired just for the trip to Nublar, but stayed on as IT support. Claire had grown to like him.

They laughed. A breeze kicked up, throwing fallen pine needles into their faces. This was exactly why Claire didn’t like eating outside on the benches. The others insisted it was too nice of a spring day to spend entirely indoors. 

“Is anyone else still amazed by how good this cafeteria food is?” Zia asked.

“Only the best at Lockwood manor,” Claire said. Except for its financial managers, she added silently. 

Zia peered closer at her. “You okay?”

She could see genuine concern in the veterinarian’s face. For a moment, she wanted to blurt it all out to to someone who would understand, who might help her. But once it was out, the secret   
and the shame wouldn’t go back in. Her throat tightened and her heart began to race.

“No,” she whispered. “Excuse me.”

She went back to her apartment and didn’t leave for several days. 

Sleep came and went. Samantha tried to coax her outside, but Claire simply ignored her until she came with news that the hybrid had hatched. Claire knew that Owen would be excited. So, she put on a perky smile and went to lunch with him. He didn’t have much to say. “Blue’s been broody. I haven’t even seen the hatchling yet. She won’t let anyone near her nest. Wheatley’s getting impatient.”

Claire frowned. “Wheatley? What’s he still doing here?”

Owen rolled his eyes. “Turns out, he’s going to be in charge of training the hybrid once it’s old enough to be away from its mother. He wants me to bring it into Wu’s lab so his team can evaluate it.”

She made a face. “I don’t like that guy. He kept talking about collecting dinosaur teeth for a necklace back when we were on Nublar.” 

“Really? And he wants a future full of humans riding dinosaurs with automatics strapped to their flanks. Or something like that.” 

They chuckled. Owen reached over and touched her hand. “You’ve been gone for a few days. Nobody’s seen you. What’s up?”

She instinctively drew back, Mills’ smirk still haunting her. He withdrew his hand. “Is it the I. rex?” he asked.

She said nothing. Owen nodded, and they sat in silence. “Maybe you should tell Lockwood about Wheatley,” he finally suggested.

“What good would that do?” she asked. “Wheatley’s military. Lockwood has no control over who gets assigned to oversee the project from their side.”

“Wheatley’s team has a couple of its own animal behavior specialists, but he doesn’t seem to hold them in high regard. If Lockwood can get more experts in here, we might be able to bully   
Wheatley into listening. My colleagues did the same thing when we were training dolphins.”

Claire sighed. “Okay. It’s going to be hard to get in a private meeting with Lockwood. His health has really been taking a downturn.”

“That’s all I ask,” Owen said.

She took a deep breath. “There’s something I need to tell you about my job. And Mills. In private.”

Owen’s expression shifted. She had his full attention now. “Is it urgent?”

She nodded. They sat in her Prius while she told him about Mills. 

“What?” he yelled.

She had to pull on his arm to keep him from jumping out of the car in a blind rage. “No, Owen! I can handle this. Don’t worry.” 

“We’ll handle this,” he sat back down in the passenger’s seat and patted the tranquilizer gun at his hip. 

She chuckled at the thought of him using it on Mills. “Oh, Owen. I’m so glad you’re still here for me.”

break

She didn’t get her meeting before Owen coaxed Blue and her hatchling into Wu’s lab. All of Lockwood’s staff showed up eager to see the new dinosaur. By the time Claire managed to get within a few feet of Blue, the tests were finished. Wheatley held up his hand triumphantly. “It’s healthy!”

The manor and even the military staff broke into applause. Claire looked for a gap in the front row. She found one next to Franklin. “Ugly little thing, isn’t it?” he said.

The hybrid was about the size of a cat. Its body had the right shape to be a young raptor and its feet sported toe claws. But its scales were iridescent black. A slim stripe ran down its sides, a golden version of its mother’s. When her eyes fell on its head, the blood drained from Claire’s face. 

Its face was a mirror image of the young I. rex.


	6. Maisie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lockwood invites his granddaughter down to the lab. Claire makes a frightening discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was one of my favorite chapters to write.

“Come with me, Maisie. I want you to meet someone.”

She looked up from her geography book, puzzled. It wasn’t like her grandfather to stop in the middle of a lesson. He dismissed Iris, her governess, and led Maisie down to the basement. 

This is really odd, she thought. Grandfather doesn’t go down to the basement often and he never takes me. 

She was forbidden to go there since the lab was built, but she did wonder what was happening. People in lab coats would come up to the main floors to take breaks. They said they studied dinosaurs but wouldn’t spend much time answering her eager questions. Disappointing, but she never dared try to take the elevator down with so many people around. Someone was bound to see her and she’d get a scolding.

Maisie wasn’t prepared for what awaited her. It’s huge! 

She spent several minutes darting around, gawking at machinery, and making the lab technicians nervous before Lockwood cleared his throat. She turned smartly on her heels to face him. “What is it, grandfather?”

“Maisie,” he began. He stopped to cough. “You and I share a love for extinct animals. Now that the technology exists to resurrect them, the human race must decide how best to use this power. It should be used sparingly. Wisely. Two years ago, I acquired the rights to InGen’s cloning techniques.”

Her jaw dropped. “Really? Why didn’t you tell me?”

He smiled. “I wanted to give you a little more time to grow before placing this burden on your shoulders.”

“I don’t understand. How could this be a burden?”

A hint of sadness crept into his eyes. “Someday, this will all be yours. The manor, the money, the secrets.” He wheeled himself toward a man Maisie had seen a few times before. His name was Wu or Wong. She couldn’t remember. “I want you to be as ready as you can be. No one knows the future and life will test your resolve over and over again.” He turned to the man. “Dr. Wu, are they here yet?”

“Soon,” Wu answered. “Grady’s leading them down now.”

A few moments later, the elevator doors opened again. Maisie gasped. She recognized Owen Grady right away. And he had a raptor with him! 

“Okay, Blue,” he coaxed her. “Eyes on me.”

One of the raptors from Jurassic World is right here, she thought. Maisie’s heart pounded in her chest. This must be the “someone” she was to meet. She turned to look back at her grandfather, but caught sight of something dark moving on Blue’s back out of the corner of her eye. “What’s that?”

Maisie walked a little closer to get a better look. Blue hissed a warning. 

“Whoa, kid,” Owen said. “Don’t come too close. She’s trained not tame.”

“You’re Owen Grady,” Maisie giggled. “I saw you three years ago at the park. You’re so cool.” 

Owen smiled awkwardly. “Ah, thanks.” His gaze traveled past her. “Sir Lockwood. I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“I wanted to see the fruits of your labors,” Lockwood said. He seemed younger now that Blue was in the room. Maisie had never seen anything quite like it. Age and illness tended to drain the energy from him. Now, his eyes lit up and he gripped his amber cane with new vigor. He kept his distance from Blue while watching the raptor’s every move. “Fantastic,” he whispered.

Maisie moved to the left. Blue turned to face her, but not before she caught a glimpse of the small figure on her back. “Is that a hatchling?”

“Yes,” Owen said.

“And that’s who you’re going to meet,” her grandfather said.

She squealed happily. Blue’s golden eyes narrowed and nervousness overcame Maisie. Slowly, she extended her hand. Owen looked ready for trouble. Blue, however, seemed more curious than angry at her approach. The raptor shifted her weight to one leg, displaying a serrated toe claw. Maisie swallowed but held her ground. Blue’s nostrils quivered as she took a few steps forward. She stopped, her slender snout inches away from Maisie’s face. The girl gently placed her hand on the raptor’s nose.

Blue snarled. Maisie backed away and almost smacked into Wu. Owen whistled softly. The raptor didn’t heed his command, preferring to keep her eyes on Maisie. Wu laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. 

“We’re going to run some tests on the hatchling,” he said. “You’ll be able to interact with it then.”

Maisie nodded, still trapped by Blue’s stare. 

“Look down,” Owen whispered. “Defer to her.”

Reluctantly, Maisie looked at her shoes. Through her peripheral vision, she saw Blue’s feet turn to the left. The raptor walked away.

Maisie breathed a sigh of relief. A cane tapped one shoe. She looked up into her grandfather’s quizzical expression.

“That was amazing,” she said.

He grinned at her. “That’s my girl.” 

She followed him over to a section of the lab specifically made for Blue. Maisie could tell by the amount of empty space in the middle, large enough to accomodate a raptor. A technician injected Blue with something and her eyes glazed over. She stood tapping her toe claws impatiently as technicians attached probes to different parts of her body. Maisie watched with equal parts horror and fascination. The hatchling on Blue’s back squirmed. Before anyone could react, it leaped onto a technician’s head.

“Don’t move!” Wu ordered.

Maisie stifled a chuckle. That guy looks like a fish with his bulging eyes. Do raptors eat fish? 

The hatchling felt around the startled technician’s hair and face before letting go. Its slim black body dropped to the floor gracefully. It hopped towards the elevator.

Blue shrieked. She tried to go after it, but between all of the wires attached to her and the drug pumping through her veins, she wasn’t going to catch it. Owen and the others were too occupied with keeping Blue’s thrashing from destroying the equipment. 

It’s up to me. Maisie tightened her shoelaces and went after it.

Manor staff poured in from the elevator. Not more technicians, the regular maintainence staff. Maisie wondered what they were doing here. Their eyes widened when they saw her. 

“It’s okay,” she told them. “I’m here with Grandfather’s permission. I’m looking for a baby dinosaur. Have you seen it?”

Heads shook. This was her chase. 

But where did the hatchling go? She wondered. Her eyes darted around, hoping to glimpse a flash of iridescent scales. The elevator doors began to close and she caught sight of a small avian foot inside.

She pushed past the staff and jabbed the button. The doors closed. Then, they opened again.

The hatchling shrieked as she grabbed hold of it. Its tiny jaws clamped down on her arms as she walked back the way they’d come. The bites didn’t hurt much. It must be really young, she thought. 

The lab was crowded now with onlookers. Most of them she recognized vaguely. There were about two-dozen people standing stiffly around the corners in camoflauge that she didn’t recognize at all. They didn’t look too happy to see her. When their eyes fell on the hatchling in her arms, the tension in the room suddenly rose. Did I do something wrong? She wondered.

Wu said, “give it to me.”

She handed him the hatchling, noting the thick gloves covering his hands and upper arms. She wanted to tell him its bites didn’t hurt, but he started his tests right away. She stayed in front of the crowd, not letting the hatchling out of her sight. She sensed Blue doing the same further back. She could feel the raptor’s burning gaze drilling into the back of her head.

Blue’s just anxious for her baby, Maisie told herself. I hope she doesn’t blame me for it being taken from her.

During the last test, she felt someone slip something into her jean pocket. Her hand traveled down to examine it. Bacon. 

The hatchling struggled the entire time. Now finished, Wu released it. It landed on the floor and growled at him. The crowd went “aww”. Maisie chuckled. The growl was definitely more cute than scary. She whistled.

It turned to her, its bright-eyed expression reminiscent of a cat. She held out the strip of bacon. The hatchling sniffed her offering, snatched and devoured it with gusto. A small pink tongue whipped out. 

Maisie laughed, delighted. She extended a hand, which the hatchling grabbed and felt. She heard Blue chatter in confusion and staff whispering. Once the hatchling was done exploring one arm,   
she extended the other. The rest of the world seemed to vanish as the two played together. 

break

That night, Maisie followed Owen up the stairs to her grandfather’s room. “Did Grandfather tell you why he wanted to meet with you?”

Nope,” Owen answered. “You?”

This day just keeps getting weirder, she thought. “He said he wanted to talk about the baby raptor,” she answered aloud. “I hope we’re not in trouble.” 

“I wouldn’t worry about that. You handled the hatchling very well.”

“Really?” She stopped walking. “It means so much to me that you think that!”

“Really.” He nodded reassuringly.

Nobody was around at this hour, but the night security shift would start soon. Lockwood had called the two of them in late at night when she was supposed to be sleeping. Iris hadn’t been happy, but didn’t argue. Maisie was grateful for her governess’ deference to authority. For Iris disapproved of most of the things Maisie wanted to do, especially befriending a dinosaur. 

What if I convince Owen to change Iris’ mind? Maisie thought. That would be nice. Probably wouldn’t work, though.

They stopped in front of his door. Claire was already waiting, her expression puzzled. She knocked softly. “Sir Lockwood?”

“Come in.”

Maisie expected Mills to be there. He usually trailed her grandfather like a shadow, but this time it was just the four of them. Lockwood waved for them to sit down. It struck Maisie as unusual that there were three chairs in the room. Whenever she came, there was only one, which either she or Mills occupied. The other two looked as if they had been brought from the dining hall.   
Whatever he had to say to her, he wanted Owen and Claire to hear it, too.

He opened a new blank book and pulled out a pen. Her eyes went to the battered leather journal he kept with him sitting on a nightstand. The one he kept close on his person so no one would see its contents. He has no idea I’ve already seen it, she thought. Unless Mills told him. I hope he didn’t. Grandfather obviously doesn’t want me to know I’m a clone, but why? Is that one of those secrets he wanted me to inherit as an adult? 

Her grandfather spoke of those secrets more and more as his illness progressed. When she finally got ahold of the journal, Mills had caught her reading it inside her little pulley elevator. He explained how her creation had split her grandfather and John Hammond, his respected business partner, apart. The secret weighed heavily on her for a while, until she realized absolutely nothing about her life had changed because of it. She still took lessons, had to go to bed at nine, and played like a normal girl. Routine made it easier to pretend she still didn’t know.   
Lockwood’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. “Claire, you wanted to tell me something…” His pen went to page. The woman in question went rigid all of the sudden, and Maisie wondered if Claire was in trouble. Maybe she would get to see a lecture on improper conduct. Lockwood always felt it was important for her to know how servants should behave. “Without Mills’ knowledge?” he finished.

Claire looked at Owen and Maisie before saying, “I was hoping for a… more private meeting.”

“Hey, my lips are sealed,” Owen said.

Maisie nodded.

Claire swallowed. “I’ve been looking over your business financial records. I know that’s Mills’ job, not mine. But I’ve noticed something odd.” She stopped, but his raised eyebrow made her continue. “Money transfers, from your business accounts to a private bank account. He claimed it was yours, but I checked a bank statement addressed to you. The numbers don’t match.”

“You think Mills is embezzling?”

What’s embezzling? Maisie wondered. I’ll look it up later when this is over.

“No,” Claire said. “I think he’s receiving money from an outside source. It’s probably not the military. They have what they want now that their hybrid’s been created.”

“Hybrid?” Maisie asked.

“Yes,” Owen said. “Blue’s child is actually part T. rex and a few other things. Wu’s calling it the Indoraptor.”

“Like the I. rex?”

Claire winced. Owen nodded.

That little baby is like the I. rex? Maisie’s brow furrowed. It doesn’t act like a monster. And why is it in our basement? 

“These transactions have been going on for months now,” Claire continued. 

Owen looked surprised. “Whoa.”

Claire fumbled around in her pocket for something. It was a small flash drive. Lockwood popped it into his laptop and studied the files for a long time. He nodded. “It’s true. What do you think about this, Mr. Grady?” he asked.

Owen hesitated. “Well, I don’t know the guy very well. I don’t think Wheatley is involved. He doesn’t act like he’s in the know around Mills and the military could just disappear anyone they don’t like.”

Disappear? Mr. Mills getting secret money? What’s going on? She opened her mouth to speak, but her grandfather wasn’t finished with Claire yet. 

“And you got this, how?” he asked.

“I… put a camera in one of the conference rooms. He was asking me to do some rather questionable things, meet with some questionable people. There wasn’t any other way to figure out what was going on.”

Lockwood pursed his lips. “I see. Ms. Dearing, this is far beyond a case of workplace abuse now. I am afraid my financial manager has been using you as a pawn in one of his moneymaking gambles. He has been using me, too,” that last statement was a growl. Maisie couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him this angry. “The important question is whether the military is involved or not. The contract states I cannot fire any staff without the military stepping in to ensure the secrecy of this project. I would have to show this evidence to Wheatley if I were to try to fire Mills, which would be a mistake if Wheatley is somehow in on this. Even if they are not, I do not trust them. The military made a fine mess with the I. rex. That is why I brought Maisie downstairs today. Blue bonded to you, Mr. Grady. It stands to reason that her offspring will do the same with any human that spends enough time with it in a positive relationship.”

“You want it to bond with Maisie?” Owen asked. 

“And I expect you to help her forge that bond as much as possible. I intend to make her essential to the Indoraptor’s development.”

She didn’t understand exactly what he meant, but it sounded like she would be allowed to play with the hatchling more. That was the important part. “Thank you, Grandfather,” she cooed.

“How?” Owen asked. 

“You and Wu will be in charge of its early development. That is the agreement Wu made with Wheatley. Wheatley cannot touch it until it is at least eight months old. Maisie will be there to influence it. Shape it into more than a mere killing machine.” 

His expression told her ‘I’m counting on you’. A thrill went up and down her spine. Finally, she would do something that would truly make him proud. Something more interesting than translating Latin poems and reciting city names.

“I’ll do my best,” she said.

“I know you will.” He turned back to Claire. “Find out where that money is coming from. I will raise your pay for the extra work and risk.” He waved his hand when Claire started to protest. “It is no trouble. There is plenty to compensate both of you in my other accounts. The business account is the only place Mills can shuffle money around without my knowledge, so the others are untouched. Mr. Grady-“ he gestured to Owen. “I want you to watch Wheatley’s team closely. Hopefully, whatever is going on will come to light.” 

He folded his hands in front of his chest, suddenly much older and frailer than Maisie had ever seen him. The transformation frightened her, but also strengthened her resolve to do what she could to protect him. It wasn’t until she saw his fingers curl that she realized there was something in his hand. He held up a tiny black ball with a clear centerpiece. She peered closer. It looked like a camera.

“Toby found a few in the main hall,” Lockwood said. “Other staff have been finding them in nooks and crannies around the manor. There is an additional monitoring system besides our private security cameras watching us at all times. This one was behind my teacup. I dropped it in and heard it fizzle.” 

Maisie’s eyes widened. “Who’s watching us?”

“I am not entirely sure. This camera could have come from anywhere. The military staff could have planted it, or the lab technicians, or even my personal staff. There is no logo indicating which company made it. The point is: be very careful what you say and what others see you do. We do not know whom we can trust. The fewer people know about this, the better. All of you be on guard for anything suspicious. Be not suspicious yourselves.”

With that, he dismissed them.   
Owen and Claire seemed grim, but Maisie could hardly wait to follow Owen to wherever Blue and the Indoraptor were waiting. The fragility in her grandfather’s frame as he laid bare the truth before them stuck in her mind.   
He’ll keep us safe, she thought. I’ll do my best until I can do the same.


	7. Hybrid Indo-pendence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ripper the Indoraptor, now a year and a half old, strikes out on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first (and only) chapter in which the POV character is a dinosaur. I hope the humanization isn't too cheesy or excessive. The Indoraptor was supposed to be a tragic figure in the movie, but his backstory got cut. Probably one of the worst decisions by the director and writers. This is my take on him.

“Ripper!”

Red eyes watched Maisie’s figure tromp down the hall until she stood in front of the triceratops skull. The owner of the eyes noted with amusement that the human looked just as annoyed as Iris did when Maisie had to go to bed. Maisie hated going to bed because if she did they wouldn’t be able to play. He slept during the day and she at night. At least, that’s how it was supposed to go. In reality, Maisie would stay up at night and he would stay up during the day so they could be together. It was worth getting into trouble. 

He chuckled. There was no way Maisie could see him from where she was. Hazy moonlight streamed in through the glass ceiling above. He had to be careful it didn’t gleam off of his scales. That would give him away instantly. The faint traces of yesterday’s forest fire crept into the manor, scratching his throat. He stifled a cough.

“Come on, Ripper! Mr. Wheatley’s looking for you,” Maisie said. “If you don’t come out, he’ll get mad at me.”

Disappointing. Well, he could still have a bit of fun before it was time to go. Nothing too strenuous that would involve breathing more of the smoky air than he needed to. 

Silently, the Indoraptor climbed onto the triceratops skull. Maisie walked around to the other side where he had been hiding. She smelled anxious. Her foot tapped the floor impatiently.

Now, pounce!

Maisie yelped as his body struck hers. His claws scraped the marble floors, carefully missing limbs. His open snout stopped centimeters from her face. He closed it and grinned.

“That’s not funny,” Maisie said. But she already smelled less afraid than she had a moment ago. He let her get up. 

Maisie stood, brushing off of her clothes. At a year and half, he was nearly the same height as she was. He still had another year and a half of growing to do. Soon, it would be too dangerous for him to pounce on her. The Indoraptor knew this, so he was going to tease her while he still could. 

“Seriously, come when I call you. Mr. Wheatley’s got some kind of mission he wants you to do.”

He cocked his head.

“Don’t look at me. He didn’t say what it was.”

They went down to the lab.

break

Several hours later, the Indoraptor waited patiently for someone to open his crate. It was unlike any container he had ever been in. The wooden walls were excellent for sharpening his claws on and it smelled much better than sterile metal bars. Still, he was far from happy. He’d been trapped in it for over three hours. The only light came from little holes in the crate for air circulation. Other dinosaurs shuffling around in their crates nearby and the steady chug-chug-chug of machinery made it impossible to sleep through the trip. The smell of herbivores was enticing. Occasionally, the floor would shake and crates would slide around. When another smashed into his crate, the Indoraptor worried that he might be crushed. 

This struck him as hardly worth the novelty of a new experience. Next time Wheatley had a mission, he’d have to bully someone else into doing it.

Hours later, he felt his crate be lifted and deposited somewhere else. Somewhere even noisier that swayed constantly and stank of salt water. Wheatley instructed him to blink rapidly once he could actually see other dinosaurs. That didn’t happen for several more hours when handlers ushered him into a cage. By then, the little devices that had been placed in his eyes were really irritating him. The Indoraptor could see dinosaurs everywhere. Humans had stacked cages in rows above him, next to him, and from the sounds rumbling up, below as well. A burst of echolocation from his nasal chambers confirmed it. He blinked rapidly. His irises warmed as the devices activated.

A human stood in front of him, face obscured by a notepad. “Says ’young male velociraptor.’ Wow, the boss really scored this time. I didn’t know anyone made male dinos. We could sell this one for two or three times as much.” The human put its face close to his cage. Its breath smelled so bad that he couldn’t determine if the human was male or female. “Are you a new breed or something? Got some nice golden feathers. Your teeth are on the outside. Never seen that before.”

Not expecting an answer, the human went to check other cages. The Indoraptor noted a ring of keys hanging off the human’s belt. If worst came to worst, he had a way out of his cage. Things were looking bleak as it was. He’d hoped the human would feed him. If they didn’t, he’d “feed” himself. But he wasn’t too confident he could get around with the constant swaying from side to side. If he focused on one thing for too long, he started to feel nauseous.

Food did eventually come in the form of half-rotten meat. He’d eaten meat that smelled like that before and it made him sick. Humans didn’t seem to be able to tell when food was bad. He pushed it away and eyed the infant triceratops two cages down. Most of these dinosaurs weren’t fully grown. The smallest ones would make perfect meals.   
Once in a while, humans walked nearby. They never paid much attention to him if he was quiet. The Indoraptor could be very quiet when he wanted to. But now he needed an excuse to get them near. His cage was empty of objects except for some newspaper on the floor. So, he took a deep breath and screamed as loud as he could.

The shrill cry echoed throughout the room. Herbivores around him moaned in fear. Other, deeper cries sounded. Carnivores proclaiming the herbivores to be their prey. One cry wasn’t aggressive. Somewhere in this enormous space, a raptor responded to his distress. He chirruped happily and tried to describe his location. 

A deafening roar drowned out the reply. 

He couldn’t tell exactly when it stopped. His ears rang and his head pounded. Humans ran around tranquilizing the nervous herbivores. He perked up when one came to his cage. The man smacked his gun against the cage bars. “Shaddup! Bloody raptor. Got the T. rex all riled up.” 

Instead of cowering like the man clearly expected him to, the Indoraptor reached through his cage bars and grabbed hold of the gun. He reared back, smashing the man’s face into the cage door and knocking him unconscious. The Indoraptor felt around the belt for the keys. In the pockets.

“What the hell?”

Two humans were coming. The Indoraptor retreated further back into his cage, hoping they wouldn’t look closely at him. They picked up the limp body and carried it off, grumbling. Once they were gone, he growled. All that work and he didn’t even get to nibble on his prey.  
Now for the keys. He had seen humans lock and unlock various cages, but never tried to open one himself. He found a key identical to the one used to lock his cage and pressed his head close to the keyhole. Fitting the key in was harder than he expected. 

Click.

He glanced around for humans. There were none as far as he could tell. But there were also humans on the levels above that could see him if they looked down. He would have to be quick.   
He slunk from his cage over in the direction where the raptor call came from. He didn’t want to hunt alone in a place this dangerous. His mother always said there is safety in numbers. Even better, the call came from a female raptor. His mood brightened at the prospect of impressing a future mate.

To his relief, the constant rocking motion wasn’t so bad and he could smell any humans coming long before they could see him. The trouble was, there were so many humans patrolling the area. Humans had ways of letting each other know things that he didn’t quite understand. He did know they were fast communicators once they became aware of a problem. 

He smiled. Wheatley had given him a real challenge.

After nearly being caught the fifth time, the Indoraptor reconsidered his strategy. He couldn’t keep wandering without being seen. He needed a distraction. His eyes fell on the keys in his hand, a playful smirk crossing his snout. 

He unlocked several cages. Most of the herbivores were too scared of him to come out or too sick to care. Scratching their flanks through the bars or biting at them got them to leave. Once enough of them were free, herding instinct took over. They eyed him nervously. Blue had taught him that under these circumstances, all it took to get them stampeding was one move or sound. 

A loud shrieking filled the room. Red lights flashed. He could hear humans start to shout and run. He chuckled. This was too easy. The small herd panicked and started moving forward. He hopped onto a stack of crates to watch. He couldn’t resist. Something about the sight of young dinosaurs trampling their unsuspecting human captors was too funny.

From his vantage point, he could see the raptors. They were together in one large cage, sharp eyes darting for any clues to what was happening. They probably wanted in on the fun. He sauntered over, flashing his golden quills and preening. 

They didn’t seem impressed with his display. Undeterred, he unlocked their cage door. They looked him over, unsure about letting an unfamilar male join the group. He fluffed out his quills again before barking out the hunting call. 

Now they were interested.

Their alpha turned out to be one who answered his distress cry. She ordered him to fall in line behind the rest of the pack so they could corral a large number of herbivores and humans into a corner. To his surprise, it worked. He expected the herbivores to fall for it, but humans were smart. Perhaps they were disoriented from the chaos he’d wrought.   
He bore down on a young parasaurolophus, using his claws to rip its body apart. Blood drenched his face and limbs. It smelled so good.

Around him, the raptors feasted. He hoped once they finished eating, they would come with him back to the manor. They were very attractive girls who would be impressed with the manor’s size and abundance of food, he decided as he dug into his meal.

Something clanged to the floor. He didn’t think much of it at first. He was starving and the smell of fresh meat was irresistable. Smoke began to fill the room. The raptors hissed and backed away. 

The Indoraptor looked around for a door, but he was getting sleepy. 

As he slumped to the ground, he realized the humans had won.

He woke up hours later in water. He had never seen so much water before in his life. There didn’t seem to be land anywhere. He had no idea if he would be able to swim to land before he became too exhausted. The water tasted disgusting and he knew the more he exerted himself, the thirstier he would become. So, he did what he was ordered to do. He relaxed, floated on his back, and waited for Farris to come. Farris was a human from the manor that sometimes gave the Indoraptor treats. He liked Farris. She had told him before he left that she would pick him up after he was done looking at dinosaurs. 

She did, after sunset. The crew of her boat hauled him up and gave him plenty of food and water. He was too hungry to pay much attention, but he thought she smelled nervous. He had no idea why. They had followed Wheatley’s orders. Now that he was on his way back to the manor, he could think of new ways to tease Maisie and daydream about wooing mates.

break

Electricity crackled. The Indoraptor howled in pain. His jaw bled and his body ached from the repeated shocks he’d been subjected to. He clawed at the bars of his cage, desperate to escape.

“Get up!” Wheatley barked. The human struck the floor with his taser so hard that the noise echoed. 

The Indoraptor didn’t get up. His legs hurt too much.

“Your orders were to stay in the cage until Farris came to get you,” Wheatley said. 

So, he had made a mistake then. He whimpered and looked around for Farris. She never shocked him even when he made mistakes. Wheatley was her alpha, so Farris often had to watch the Indoraptor get punished. He had learned to read human facial expressions long ago and knew that it bothered Farris to see him in pain. He didn’t smell or see her in the room. She must have been somewhere else in the manor. Sometimes she convinced Wheatley not to punish him as harshly. But she wasn’t there for him this time. 

Wheatley shocked him again. The scent of fear permeated the air. Wheatley’s subordinates were nervous, which struck the Indoraptor as hilarious. After all, they had more tasers than Wheatley did. They could easily overthrow him. But they obeyed him as Blue obeyed the human she called Alpha. He used to obey Alpha as well, until it became clear that Alpha was just another one of   
Wheatley’s subordinates. He knew Alpha wasn’t a powerful subordinate because Wheatley hardly paid attention to or supported Alpha. Even if Alpha was nice, his orders and desires were not high priority for the Indoraptor when the hybrid was trying to avoid angering Wheatley. 

The Indoraptor glared at the humans around him. Attacking would be a mistake. They’d overwhelmed him every time he tried. 

“Our opportunity to see where they were going to take you was wasted. You’ve proven that you’re smarter than this,” Wheatley continued. “Stop goofing around. And look at me when I’m talking to you!”

The Indoraptor met Wheatley’s eyes. He could see the contempt in the human’s expression. Wheatley would keep shocking him unless he complied with everything the human demanded. But he didn’t understand. He blinked and looked at dinosaurs. It should have been okay for him to eat afterwards. No one ever scolded him for being hungry before.

“No food,” Wheatley pronounced. “Not until you follow all of my orders.”

With that, the humans filed out of the room and left him in the cage for three days.

He ran out of water after the first day. No one came to give him more. 

By the second day, he was in a permanent state of half-consciousness. His slim body needed so much food that even as a hatchling, Blue hadn’t been able to hunt enough to keep him satisfied. He started gutting the chickens Alpha set loose to run around the nest in desperation. That was when Maisie started calling him “Ripper”. He had no idea what “Ripper” meant, but he learned to respond when she called him. He had never met another human capable of so much kindness. As he grew, he formed a bond with her similar to the one between Blue and Alpha. Unlike everyone else he knew Maisie didn’t act like she thought she was superior to him. He wished Maisie were here. She would bring lots of food and comfort him. Or Farris and Domeck, the ones who didn’t shock him. Or even Alpha and Zia. 

On the third day, it became clear that none of them were coming. As nice as they were, they had no authority to undo his punishment. Wheatley and his underlings could simply imprison them as well if they did anything he didn’t want them to. 

The Indoraptor felt his mind going fuzzy. There was just darkness, the cold, thirst and hunger. He closed his eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

The smell of meat woke him. 

“Up.”

The Indoraptor tried to rise, but was so weak he only managed to prop himself onto his elbows. 

“Close enough. Here.”

Meat landed in front of him with a loud splat. He shoveled it into his mouth and chewed so quickly that more chunks of it ended up on the cage floor than down his throat. The human who had spoken placed a water dish inside the cage as well. He drank eagerly, careful not to splash any of it out of the dish. 

As his mind cleared, he recognized the voice. It belonged to Wu. He had seen Wu all the time as a hatchling. Later on, he spent more time with his mother and didn’t go to the place he assumed was Wu’s home as often.

“Hmph,” Wu said. “I can’t see the wisdom in this kind of reward and punishment system. Especially for a creature as smart as you. Do you understand?”

The Indoraptor’s red eyes flashed in the dark. There was no spark of comprehension, but he watched Wu with the same quizzical intensity that he gave everything. The world invaded his being, drenched him in sensation. He was its hostage. The human in front of him was one of the few who seemed to understand that. Wu always dimmed the lights and kept the humans under his authority quiet when the Indoraptor came to the lab. 

“Not yet,” Wu smiled. The Indoraptor couldn’t tell if it was a friendly smile or not. But Wu’s voice was gentle. “I have confidence in my skill and your will. Try not to make Wheatley angry again. Obey his orders.” 

Wu fed him more meat and left. 

He was disappointed that the human wouldn’t let him out or that he expected deference to Wheatley as well. Then again, Wu didn’t have a taser or a gun. Wu was already risking himself by giving the Indoraptor food. As long as Wheatley was leader, he would get whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it. And what Wheatley seemed to want was for the Indoraptor to do things that were of no benefit to the hybrid and even dangerous. All those little treats and toys he’d been offered were hardly worth the grueling training he had to complete to get them. He trained and did missions to avoid punishment. Now it was clear that reluctant, partial obedience wasn’t good enough for Wheatley.

The Indoraptor slipped one hand through the bars of his cage and felt the latch. The shape of it told him it would be extremely simple to open. One move and he would be free. He slipped the handle out and pulled up. 

It felt like trying to lift a Brontosaurus. No matter how hard he strained, he couldn’t get the latch to move so much as a centimeter out of position. He had to stop before gripping the handle caused his claws to tear into his palms. Defeated, he considered his next move. He understood the principle of opening cages. This one didn’t look complicated, which meant it probably wasn’t. Like with the humans themselves, there was simply something about it he didn’t yet comprehend. Even if he did figure out the secret behind his prison’s door, he would have to fight his way out. 

Wheatley’s subordinates weren’t just going to drop Wheatley’s leadership for the Indoraptor because the hybrid proved he could beat a cage lock. He wasn’t strong enough. Not now. 

Someday…


	8. Interlude 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire and Owen's plans suffer a setback.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys. Really sorry about the late update. Between midterms and a sick pet, I couldn't finish this on time. But we're back on track. I don't anticipate next week being any less busy, but we'll keep our fingers crossed.

“I’m finally ready to blow the whistle on Mills.”

They stood with their backs to the barbed wire fence surrounding Blue’s enclosure. It was the only place Owen was sure they could speak without being overheard. The trees muffled any sounds and shielded them from view. There were no cameras on the fences. He knew there were three around Blue’s nest. He’d placed them there himself to keep detailed records of her behavior. Those cameras were nowhere near here. He raised an eyebrow at Claire.

“What, so soon after you got that job offer?” he asked.

She chuckled. “You know me too well. I wouldn’t take this kind of risk unless I had another option in my back pocket.”

Owen laughed. “You’ll live after all. You sure they’ll let you go?”

“Already asked Lockwood. He says yes and that he’ll talk to Wheatley about a confidentiality deal.”

“I can’t wait to see Mills’ face when he gets busted. Lockwood will throw him out so fast he won’t leave a skid mark on the floor. I got to hand it to the old man. I didn’t think he’d be able to play oblivious for this long.”

“Or Maisie,” Claire said. 

“Kids can be surprisingly discrete,” Owen said. “Especially if adults aren’t really paying attention to them. So, what’s the plan?”

“I accept the offer, hand out copies of the evidence to my lawyers, and then I breeze onto my new job while Mills gets sued for his money’s worth.” She clasped his hand, grinning.

His smile was brief. “Where are you going?” Owen asked.

“Georgia,” she made a face. “More PR work, this time for my alma mater. Can’t say I’m looking forward to moving out there again, but at least I’ll be safe from any retaliation Mills might throw at me. It’ll be obvious who ratted him out.”

Owen shook his head. “Can’t believe it’s taken this long to build a case. Three years already.”

Claire took a deep breath. “Well, it took eight months to settle the lawsuits against Masrani Corps. That was with mountains of evidence of corporate negligence and back dealing. This is a lot more elusive. We still don’t know exactly where that money Mills got went. Probably into some Swiss bank account. All we know is that it came from selling dinosaur genomes on the black market. And that’s because of Wu.”

“Yeah,” Owen said. “I thought that guy was a total sellout. You should have seen my jaw drop when I found the recordings of Mills blackmailing him.”

“I can imagine,” she said. 

“But I’m glad. We need as many people on our side as possible.”

A twig snapped. They whirled around, eyes wide with fear. 

The forest was still in the soft afternoon light. Pinecones and pine needles littered the ground. Owen was still the only human who could approach raptors without fear. They seemed to consider anyone else fair game. But Blue never tried to vault the barbed wire fence. It was her son they needed to worry about. At a full height of ten feet, he could climb a tree and hop right over the spikes. He moved so quietly they would never hear him coming. Owen didn’t see any sign of either of them. They were probably back at Blue’s nest, sleeping. It had become a pattern: the Indoraptor would be tired after completing a mission and the two would stay together until he recovered. Owen still didn’t know where Wheatley sent the hybrid or what for. The last mission took months, and the Indoraptor returned so exhausted he had to be dragged to the enclosure.

Claire turned back to him. “Samantha’s helping me find a place near campus. I think I’ll be ready to go in a month or two.”

Instead of speaking right away, Owen gazed out across the mountains. “I’m gonna miss you,” he said.

They held each other for several breaths. Then they kissed. It still felt just as good as it had the first time. 

I really don’t want her to go, he realized. God, why did this have to happen now? Just when we finally stop fighting over trivial things, she has to leave. 

They pulled away, and for one agonizing moment, Claire looked as though she was thinking the same. He wanted to tell her to stay, to take her hand, and say that he’d protect her from whatever would come. But the moment passed. He watched her stride back to the manor, more confident than she had been in years, until she was lost among the trees. 

The next two hours evaporated as he stared off into space. His notebook and laptop lay untouched on a bench inside the enclosure, waiting patiently for him to add new observations. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Owen knew it was odd that neither raptor came out to greet him, but he didn’t particularly care. He’d promised himself that he would stay on Lockwood’s staff for the girls. Now, one was leaving. The other was aging and devoted almost exclusively to her child. He couldn’t honestly say that any of the staff were people he could live without. What little he had left at the manor wouldn’t keep him from sailing off after Claire.

His phone pinged at him. He hoped it was from her, but the smiling stegosaur icon belonged to Zia. It flashed URGENT in bold letters. He clicked the icon.

Message: Sir Lockwood is dead.


	9. The Demon of Lockwood Manor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things come to a head with Claire leaving and dropping the evidence bombshell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, so I am late again posting a chapter. Very sorry about that. But what I'm not sorry about is taking out time to make sure that my pets are all happy and healthy again. Now that they are these last three chapters should come out on schedule barring exams, freak events, etc. We are getting to the main action now. This chapter was such a pleasure to write. The coming one will be even better. Enjoy.

Firing Mills didn’t happen that month, much to Owen’s dismay. Maisie was Lockwood’s only heir, but at thirteen was still too young to lead. That meant Mills would effectively be in charge once again, with her signing off on whatever he recommended. Maisie would not have been able to see the evidence without him seeing it as well, much less fire him. Wheatley’s team and the Indoraptor came back from their latest mission battered and just in time for the bad news. No one was ready for scandal. 

So Claire moved on, nearly taking Owen with her. He promised Lockwood that he would help Maisie, a promise Claire insisted he keep. She passed a copy of the evidence to Owen before she left.   
In the privacy if his Jeep, Owen watched the recordings and read the papers. It was clear now that the military wasn’t in on Mills’ scheme. I’m still not positive they don’t already know about it. All I know is that this needs to be resolved. Mills is selling this tech to anyone who will pay up. That’s a threat to our country. Maybe even the whole world. What’s going to happen when everyone has dinosaurs? He held onto the proof for less than a week before showing it to Wheatley. 

He had never seen the militant’s face turn such a deep shade of red. “That bastard!” Wheatley snarled. “That’s why he’s always so cagey. That’s why he wants us to leave now. ‘Give us a break, respect the dead’, he says. Sure.”

“He told you that?” Owen blinked. “What about the contract?”

“Contract doesn’t let him kick us out. It was a courtesy request. One I would have honored if you hadn’t brought this to me. If those genomes are on the black market, you can bet the Russians have them. China has them. All this time he played us for fools!” 

He threw the papers onto a lab bench and shoved Owen aside. “You!” his scarred hands grabbed Wu’s collar. “You helped him do this for three fucking years!”

“Let go of me,” Wu slapped Wheatley’s hand away. “I couldn’t say anything. Mills was effectively in charge and watching our every move. If he found out and blackmailed us into handing the evidence over, we’d have nothing on him.” Wheatley looked ready to strangle Wu. “You know I’m right,” the ex-scientist pressed. “Even you can’t disappear someone without proof they did wrong.”

Wheatley growled and took a step back. “Can’t I?”

He stomped to the elevator. Owen and Wu exchanged frightened glances before running after him. 

“You okay?” Owen asked.

“I’ll live,” Wu sighed. “Big oaf was too busy playing soldier this whole time to notice Mills’ shady back dealing. I hope he gets demoted to janitor.” 

Now that would be funny, Owen thought. But he actually spent more time getting stitched up from fights with your creation. 

As Owen suspected he would, Wheatley headed for the raptor enclosure. Owen and Wu circled around from a different direction, hoping to go unnoticed. By the time they reached the door, Wheatley and five other soldiers were already there, tranquilizers loaded in the likely case of emergency. 

Wu whispered, “Why don’t they just find Mills and shoot him?” 

“Don’t know. I can’t hear what he’s saying,” Owen said. “But it looks like he’s showing the Indoraptor a photo. I bet it’s Mills’ face. I think they want him dead at a later time.”

“Why?”

“Don’t know. Stop asking questions I can’t answer.”

“Hey, you!” A soldier walked up to their tree. 

“Shit,” Owen muttered.

The soldier swapped his tranquilizer for a handgun. “You have five seconds.”

Owen scrambled down. Wu lost his grip halfway and fell. The other four soldiers formed a circle around them, guns ready.

“There’s no need for that. We’re unarmed,” Owen said.

Wheatley approached, walkie-talkie still going in hand and a brutish smile creasing his face. From the sound of it, his men were interrogating Mills inside the manor. Owen thought Wheatley’s face had more scars than it had four months ago. Before he took the Indoraptor out on a mission. They were probably fighting on the way there and on the way back, Owen thought. Wheatley had more scars running up his arms and down his legs from previous fights. For whatever reason, the Indoraptor never inflicted an injury severe enough to kill him. The new scars brought Owen’s mind back to a conversation from a year past.

Wheatley had just returned from the hospital, limping from the damage done to his knee by the Indoraptor’s toe claw. As bad as that had been, the damage inflicted on the Indoraptor’s actual handlers had been worse. 

“Is this worth it?” Owen had asked him. 

Wheatley gave him a long, uncertain look. “Project Indoraptor has been far too successful for it to be cancelled now. We’ve taken out every target with little to no backup. This mission I hardly needed to do anything. That creature handled it almost entirely on its own.”

Owen’s eyes widened. “Well, I bet Wu will be happy to hear that.”

“Fuck Wu.” Wheatley admitted to Owen, “I don’t think that damn creature of his wants me dead. Just crippled. We’ve all seen it eat. It’ll toy with its prey, its human prey, slicing them up bit by bit until they bleed to death. I swear it’s laughing at them. Like the Devil himself.” 

“The Indoraptor’s no devil. He’s just an animal,” Owen had said.

“Devil or animal, doesn’t matter.” Wheatley rubbed his kneecap and winced. “It only slices my limbs. Maybe its endgame is to turn me into a stump. I don’t know. All I know is it wants me to suffer.”

“If you say so, Ahab.”

Wheatley had given him such a vicious glare that Owen felt a pang of fear. I hope he isn’t so drugged up he’s lost restraint.

“Why not request a transfer?” Owen asked.

The militant had looked like he wouldn’t answer. Finally, he said, “The fewer people who know about this, the better. And the missions have all been successes beyond anyone’s wildest hopes. None of us are going anywhere.” 

“Keep me informed,” Wheatley’s present conversation snapped Owen out of his thoughts. “Mills is singing like a canary. They all do when they’re staring down a gun barrel.” The militant put his walkie-talkie away. “Apparently, he’s gonna have an auction tonight in the manor’s basement. That’s why he let the staff take a vacation.” He paused, smirking.

“Okay,” Owen said. “And…?”

Wheatley shook his head. “You think I’m dumb, don’t you?”

A sharp stab of pain went through Owen’s jaw and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground. Wheatley cracked his knuckles. “And Mills is gonna help us crash it. He expects a full house. Buyers are coming in from all over to buy some dino DNA. Only they’re gonna get an unexpected treat. This time, Mills will show them a living dinosaur.”

Owen felt his blood run cold. “Don’t do this,” he said. “Just think about it for a minute. We don’t know who these people are. If you just have the Indoraptor kill them-“

“I know they won’t be getting our technology! I know it’ll be used against us if this traitor succeeded,” the militant screamed. “That’s all anyone needs to know!” He stepped back. “I told Mills he wouldn’t be marked as a target if he cooperates. Maybe he’ll live, maybe he won’t. Our killing machine isn’t 100% obedient. But it does love death. With the Indoraptor’s help, we’ll get these crooks. Every single one of them.” 

break

The earth rumbled. Owen opened his eyes and cursed himself. He had gone upstairs to warn Maisie about the auction and promptly fallen asleep in one of her chairs after doing so. He glanced over at the canopied bed next to him. Maisie pulled the blankets back. “Sorry,” she said. “You looked so tired I didn’t want to wake you.”

Owen put a finger to his lips and pointed out the window. In the distance, rows of headlights appeared out of the gloom. That’s a lot of cars, he thought. Mills’ hired help should be down in the basement by now. I can make it to the lab control room if I’m quiet. 

“Just read your books under the covers,” he told Maisie. “Don’t leave for any reason.”

“What’s going to happen?” Maisie slipped under the blankets until only her wide eyes showed. 

“Busting some bad guys,” he pulled out a handgun and opened the door. “Don’t worry. This is gonna be awesome. But it won’t be safe.” 

“Okay.” She disappeared under the covers.

Owen locked the door and slipped the key under it. Please let the plan go right. It’s crazy and evil but if it doesn’t work, I’ll likely be killed by an angry dinosaur. 

The first thing he did was switch the lights off. Given how many dozens of hostile people were on their way expecting to find the manor empty except for Mills and whatever private security he hired, Owen didn’t want to take any chances he’d be seen. With luck, Wheatley’s soldiers would have dealt with the private security already. He tiptoed across the hall toward the elevator. 

Faintly, he heard another sound other than his footfalls. 

Breathing.

He moved faster. Almost there. Off to his far left, a patch of darkness moved toward him. If he hadn’t heard the noises, he’d never have noticed. All he could make out was its sheer size. He raised his gun. Red eyes flashed in the dark. Something hard struck Owen’s face and he blacked out.

break

Tick. Tick. Tick.

The magnificent clock in the main hall greeted Owen’s return to consciousness. It sounded muffled, as if he heard it through a wall. It was completely dark. Obviously, he wasn’t in the hall anymore. His head ached worse than when Blue kicked him. He pressed a hand to his cheek and felt warm, sticky blood on his fingertips. He tried to stand and knocked something wooden onto his legs. He grabbed it. A broom? He thought. Am I in a closet?

He felt around for a door handle. He found it and turned the knob. Moonlight streamed in.

Yep. Janitor’s closet. He looked at the dinosaur dioramas. Lights are back on. Buyers must have come in by now. That’s why Wheatley’s men haven’t come looking for me. They don’t want to risk scaring anyone off. 

He turned on his phone camera and reversed it. An ugly purple bruise in the distinct shape of three large knuckles covered his lower face. Blood poured from his nose.

That’s gonna leave a mark. Slowly, his mind returned to the attack. The Indoraptor hit me! Why? He’s more than capable of ripping me to shreds. Owen looked around for his gun. No sign of it. If he’s loose… he’s probably feasting.

Even with the display lights, the hall was dark enough to need a flashlight. Clouds had moved in and he could smell rain coming. He searched for his gun or dead bodies. There were no bodies.   
No Indoraptor either. He found the gun on top of a dinosaur skeleton and nearly fell off the display several times trying to reach it. He grunted triumphantly as his hand gripped the handle. He crept off and climbed into the elevator. 

Owen didn’t know what to expect when the doors opened. He worked his way up to the elevator ceiling and pressed his back to it, just in case. 

The lab on the third basement floor was deserted. 

Relieved, he headed up the half-flight of stairs to the control room above. He could see through the glass wall that there were people at the main panel. They stood or sat with their backs to him watching the central computer screen. Most wore camoflague. Owen didn’t know how many of Wheatley’s soldiers were in or around the manor. At least twenty. There were five in the control room plus Wheatley himself. The other two sitting in chairs were probably Lockwood staff. Wheatley asked some of them to stay to help him carry out his plan and probably didn’t tell them exactly how that plan was supposed to go. 

Once he got up into the room, he could see what was on the screen. It was divided into twelve smaller screens, each showing a different part of the estate. He saw the main hall, the gardens, the dining hall, and more. They’re in the security system. They must see the Indoraptor! Why are they just sitting there? His eyes fell on the two people closest to the controls. Franklin and Zia. 

They waved at him. The rest didn’t look away from the screen. They all looked ragged, as if they had been in a fight. “So, you decided to join us,” Wheatley said. “Where have you been? We didn’t see you during that little brawl we had with Mills’ private security.”

“Brawl?” Owen thought, that explains their appearance and the fact that they missed what happened in the main hall. While the Indoraptor was giving me a beauty mark, they were forcing these rent-a-cops to go along with the plan. “Never mind. Wheatley, the Indoraptor. He’s escaped,” Owen walked closer.

“Of course he’ll escape,” Wheatley said. “In about two minutes, the power will fail. The locks on the Indoraptor’s cage will shut off and under the cover of darkness our weaponized dinosaur will have a field day. During an auction in which it was to be sold illegally to foreign buyers. You could almost call that poetic justice.” 

Over the speaker, they heard, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the most dangerous creature that ever walked the earth.” They watched the Indoraptor’s cage roll out on a conveyor belt into a crowded exhibit room. His shadow fell on the terrified faces of the crowd. The speaker continued his introduction. 

Owen scratched his head. What is going on? 

“Psst.”

He looked down at Zia and Franklin. “W-what happened to your face?” Franklin whispered.  
“Are those knuckle marks?” Zia asked.

Owen nodded. “Wheatley, the locks have already failed. I ran into the Indoraptor in the main hall.”

Now Wheatley looked at him, eyes lingering on the bruise. “How-?” he began, but stopped himself. “Doesn’t matter now.” He gestured for the soldiers to prepare for a fight. 

“Wait,” Owen said. “The Indoraptor didn’t kill me. We don’t have to take him down.”

“Yeah,” said Wheatley. “Maybe he likes you. But I won’t bet my life that he’d give us the same chance.” He turned to Franklin. “Boy, make sure those doors are locked tight. Open them on my orders only.”

Franklin nodded. The soldiers filed out of the control room. Wheatley went last, pulling a pair of pliers from his pocket. Owen gave him a disbelieving look. Over the years, Wheatley collected dinosaur teeth for his necklace, but there was one empty hook left. He nodded at Owen and shut the door. What is with this guy? Owen wondered.

“You definitely need an ice pack,” Zia stood up. “I’ll get the first aid kit.”

“Owen, could you stay with us?” Franklin asked.

“I need to be there in case Wheatley fails,” Owen said. “I have a feeling subduing the Indoraptor is not going to be that easy.”

Footage of the auction suddenly went dark. Confused chatting filtered in through the speakers. Notices flashed Exhibit Hall Doors Locked and Warning: Safety Magnetic Lock Failure across the screen. Inside his cage, the Indoraptor growled. Metal creaked. A second later, the screaming began. 

Franklin covered his face. 

“Open the doors,” Owen said.

“I can’t!” Franklin whimpered. “The Indoraptor will get loose!”

The screams and roaring were deafening. Franklin turned down the volume. Now that they could hear each other, Owen said, “People are dying in there!” 

He looked for the button to open the doors and didn’t find one. Of course it wouldn’t be that simple, he scolded himself. He turned back to the shivering hacker. “You’ve got to let them out!”

“I know. I know,” Franklin looked away. “But he made me do it. And he’ll make my life hell if I undo it. Assuming the Indoraptor doesn’t kill us all. God forgive me.”

The door opened. Zia was back, first aid kit in hand and two tranquilizers strapped to her back. The veterinarian’s expression was steely. “Stop whining,” she said. She tossed a tranquilizer to   
Franklin and bandaged Owen’s face. “It’s too late for that now. Just do what you have to do.” She looked at the screen. “Go, Owen. The soldiers have taken up position.”

“The screaming’s stopped,” Franklin said. His phone rang. After a moment of listening, the hacker started typing. Owen and Zia exchanged glances before heading out.

“Wait, don’t leave me here!” Franklin called. The door swung shut behind them. They kept walking. 

“Someone needs to get Blue,” Zia said. “She’s the Indoraptor’s mother. She might be able to calm him. I’d get Maisie, too. She’s bonded to him.”

“So they can do what?” Owen asked. “Get the Indoraptor back in a cage he already broke out of?”

“Come on, Owen,” Zia rolled her eyes. “We can always trap him into a room. I doubt the animal experts taught him lockpicking. We’ll need something to hold his attention. Preferably something he won’t kill on sight.”

They stepped into the elevator. Zia pressed the button for the first floor. “I’ll get Blue,” Owen said. “She doesn’t obey you.”

“Right.” Zia took a deep breath. “Remember that gas Wu developed? It’s a mild neurotoxin. That’s why we try not to use it, but I found a canister in the lab. It’s our only chance if he somehow gets past the goon squad’s tranqs.”

“I don’t have a very high opinion of Wheatley’s team either, but I don’t see how the Indoraptor would get past them,” Owen said. “But then, how he did get out of his cage?”

“And why’d he go back in?” Zia shook her head. “There’s too much we don’t understand.” The doors opened. She gave him one last fearful, determined look as the doors began to close. “Good luck,” she said softly. 

He nodded and headed outside. 

Rain poured down in sheets. Great, he thought. Just what I need. He switched on his flashlight. Its tiny circle of yellow did little to illuminate the way. Fortunately, the moon peeked halfway out of the clouds, so he could at least see the outlines of trees and the roads. His boots slipped on the wet concrete and within minutes, he was soaking wet. He hurried onto the dirt sideroad leading to the raptor enclosure. 

“Blue!” he called. 

The forest was silent. After a few moments, a pair of golden eyes appeared in the gloom. Blue approached, chittering softly.

“Eyes on me,” Owen opened the door. 

She stepped out and nuzzled his shoulder. She made a sound he knew meant that she was hungry. He fed her a strip of bacon out of his pocket. “Good girl. Come on.” 

Instead of following right away, Blue begged for more treats. “We don’t have time for this.” He pressed his clicker. The raptor followed reluctantly. Weird, he thought. Usually she picks up on my mood right away. Maybe the rain’s messing with her sense of smell. 

The mud was so slick that he put some distance between them in case she slipped and landed on him. He didn’t need to worry. Blue might not have been as agile as she used to be, but her footing was sure. Halfway there, Owen’s phone rang. “Franklin?”

“It’s loose,” Franklin moaned. “Oh my god, it’s loose. It blocked the tranq darts with dead bodies and took their weapons away… Oh god!” He started gibbering.

“What?” Owen said. “You’re not making any sense. Franklin!” 

Blue knocked the phone out of his hand. It landed in the mud and went dark. “What was that for?” Owen picked it up. The touchscreen was unresponsive. Frustrated, he shoved it into a back pocket. Blue nudged him and pointed with her snout to the manor. The lights were out on every floor.

Owen went to the doors and found them bolted shut. Metal sheets completely covered the windows. He tried shooting where he thought the locking mechanisms would be, to no avail. Lockdown was complete.

“Come on, Blue,” he said. “We have to find another way in.”


	10. Endgame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zia looks on as the events of four years come to a close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can hardly believe I'm here. This is the last chapter of main action. I think JWFK- The Different Story will properly end with a postscript where I explain why I've been writing this fan fiction a bit better.

Zia knocked on Maisie’s door several times. Locked and no response. Something rattled behind her. She turned to see metal covers sliding over the windows. Rain splattering on glass turned to hammering on metal. The loudest click she had ever heard echoed through the hall as every door on the first and second floors bolted shut. Her phone rang. 

“Zia, those people in the exhibit hall have been massacred!” Franklin blubbered and sniffled. She couldn’t hear what he said afterwards. The rain was too loud.

“Damn!” she said. “You’ve got to open the front door. Owen’s out there. And speak up, it’s raining cats and dogs.”

“He can get the cops. Animal control. Anything. We need help,” Franklin’s voice cracked. He sniffled more. “Um, I’m locking everything down. This manor’s the only cage left that has a chance of holding the Indoraptor.”

It’s that bad? She knew Franklin was a worrier, but she trusted him not to exaggerate. Her thoughts returned to Maisie and she began to look around the hall. “Couldn’t you just keep the doors to the exhibit hall shut?” she asked Franklin. 

Come on, Zia! She wracked her brains. Where does Maisie’s little pulley elevator lead? That’s the only way she could have gotten out of a locked room. Zia had no idea where. The manor was too large to search by foot alone. But Franklin could find Lockwood’s granddaughter with the security system. 

She heard gunfire and several explosions over the phone. She didn’t have time to ask what happpened before an image popped up on her phone. It showed Wheatley’s crew throwing grenades through the doors. 

“Can you see the photo?” Franklin asked. 

“Yeah. What’s with the grenades?”

“We can’t find the Indoraptor. It didn’t get out through the doors but it’s not visible on the cameras. If it did get out it can’t have gotten far. I think they’re hoping to scare it so bad it won’t fight.  
Zia, I can’t bolt every single door in the manor because not all of them are connected to the lockdown system. If they don’t stop the Indoraptor here, it’ll be able to get into other parts of the basement and hide.”

Zia shook her head. Men. Always trying to frighten and force. Animals can’t just be cowed by their masters. They need an actual reason to be loyal. Now that the Indoraptor knows what he’s capable of, it’s going to be the I. rex rampage all over again.

She started heading down the stairs. Over the phone, she heard gunfire. “I found him. Zia, I need to hang up and tell them where the Indoraptor is. He’s waiting for them in an air vent above the door. As soon as they go in, he’ll… Oh my god. They’re shooting the survivors,” Franklin said in disbelief. “Zia, there were people still alive in there and Wheatley’s men just shot them!” 

“What?” she stopped in her tracks. All she could hear over the phone were more gunshots. Whatever came next was lost in the sound of the torrential downpour hammering on the metal window covers. 

This can’t be real. This can’t be real, her mind replayed. She resumed going down the stairs and began searching the exhibits for any sign of Maisie. The shooting resumed over the phone. “What the hell?” he yelled suddenly. She heard dying screams and growling in the background.

Her mind switched gears. Sounds like they’re having trouble. “I’m coming down,” she said. “Franklin, can you let Owen back in and find Maisie?”

Dial tone. He had hung up on her! Her phone flashed a Low Battery warning. Crap. I wish Owen were here, she thought. He’s survived Jurassic World. I’m the paleoveteranarian who blew making track team.

Trembling, she took the stairs down. The doors to and from the stairway were, to her surprise, not locked. Franklin hadn’t said anything about the Indoraptor getting to the upper levels. But he clearly would be able to if it entered the hybrid’s mind to go up the stairs. She entered the basement’s second subfloor, canister in one hand and tranquilizer in the other. It was eerily silent. She went about fifteen paces before she saw the first bodies. 

Oh my god, Zia could feel her blood freezing.

Both sets of exhibit hall exits were wide open. Mauled corpses lay face down halfway in the doorways, half still in the exhibit hall. Something about them didn’t look right. Furrowing her brow, she rolled one onto its back. The blood-soaked, well-dressed body had three tranquilizer darts protruding from its chest. They’re full, she thought, brow wrinkling. Which means this poor fellow died from blood loss before the darts hit him. She turned the other bodies over. All were riddled with darts and bulletholes in addition to having their throats or bellies slit open. Her breathing became ragged as she realized the awful truth. The Indoraptor used these bodies as shields. God, Wheatley. Is this something you taught him to do? 

She looked up. Inside the exhibit hall were about fifty bloody bodies, most with clean slashes across their throats or stomachs. A few only had bulletholes in their torsos. Strangely, few of the corpses appeared to have been food for the hybrid. He had killed them as quickly and cleanly as possible. That’s not right, Zia thought. He’s a hungry creature. Why would he leave all this… food… just sitting here? And why did he leave some of the people alive? She recognized Mills’ body a few feet from the Indoraptor’s cage. He had likely been the first to die. She photographed the gruesome scene as if she were a wildlife student. Treating this like a mundane, routine task helped to keep her grounded. Now was her chance to answer a question that had been bothering her since Owen entered the control room: how had the Indoraptor escaped before he was scheduled to?

Trying her hardest not to gag, Zia carefully stepped around the bodies. It smelled like a slaughterhouse inside. Twenty steps in, her toes felt wet and sticky. After what seemed like an eternity, she made it to the cage. This had better be worth my shoes and socks.

Heavy claw marks covered the white cage’s interior, a sign that its occupant raged against captivity. Otherwise, it was clean. The floor was out of alignment with the rest of the cage. Zia could tell from looking at its structure that the floor was a separate metal piece that had to be slid into place. Somehow, the Indoraptor had slid it out. How and why? She wondered.

Why was surprisingly easy to answer. One glance at the door told her all she needed to know. Look at that dinky little latch. A creature that strong could break that thing in his sleep if it were just a latch. But it’s completely undamaged and the only way it could have held him since he was a little dinosaur was to be even stronger. Electrically powered magnets?

Zia looked at her little hematite bracelet. A cute technician had given it as a birthday present and it stood out as the only tasteful piece of jewelry a date had ever gifted her. Now, it was going to test her hypothesis. She brought her wrist to the latch. The hematite beads clung. Yep. 

She started to bend down to the cage floor. As she did, the beads seemed to yank on her wrist. She jerked back. Wow. That’s really powerful. No wonder he couldn’t get out before now. A magnetic floor working in tandem with a magnetic latch. Clever design, dumb logic. A heavy enough animal would shift the magnets out of alignment just by moving. In this case, our animal was smart and determined enough to figure out the trick. 

She photographed the cage and exited the exhibit hall. As she was leaving, she caught sight of another body out of the corner of her eye. This one wore camoflague and leaned up against the wall opposite the doors. One of Wheatley’s goons didn’t make it. She walked closer, nearly slipping on the empty shell casings littering the floor. How does this creature have the energy to keep killing? 

When she looked closer she almost had a heart attack. It had no head. The cut seperating the neck from the head was almost perfectly straight, cutting through bone. Zia knew that would take tremendous physical strength, patience, and skill. This was the Indoraptor’s talent on full display.

She sprinted back up the stairs trying to think of anything except what she had just seen. Zia had almost reached the first floor when she remembered. The Indoraptor’s loose in the manor.  
Wheatley’s men are getting their butts slaughtered. And Maisie’s wandering around somewhere totally clueless. I’m wandering around totally clueless as to what’s happening. 

She called Franklin. “Where’s Maisie?” 

After a moment, the hacker answered, “I can’t see her through the cameras. She might be in her room or in a blind spot. Where are you?”  
“Stairs.”

“I forgot those doors don’t have working automatic locks. The security upgrade-”

The phone cut him off. Wheatley was trying to reach her. She pressed Hold and Accept. “I’ve got him,” Wheatley whispered. “That devil lured my men into a trap with Watson’s head. I’ll never forget that as long as I live. It was a trap. It was so obviously a trap! But they looked. They looked away and it killed them before they could scream.”

Zia felt her stomach twist. “What do you want me to do?”

“We designed this thing to be unstoppable. All of our plans for keeping it contained have gone to hell. We can’t outfight it. We haven’t outthought it. But every living thing has a weakness. Find it, Zia!”

El Macho’s actually admitting he needs my help. He must be pissing himself scared right now. Zia thought for a second. “Wheatley, his senses are sharper than a dog’s. Bright lights. Loud noises.  
Pepper bomb. Anything that’ll overload him.” 

The militant sighed. “We already tried that with the grenades and flashbombs. That barely slowed it down.”

“Then you should have kept him locked in that exhibit hall. I don’t know what else to tell you.”

The phone beeped insistently at her. Don’t all demand my expertise at once, she groused, hitting the button to accept Franklin’s call. I wonder if this is what Hell is like. “Franklin, when you got the lights back on, did the Indoraptor seem affected by them or the explosions?”

“Yeah,” the hacker said. “He looked dazed. When the lights came back on, he jumped and hid. I think they startled him.” She could hear him taking deep breaths. “Just keeping it together.”

“Yeah. Do keep it together,” she said. The idea of the Indoraptor being just as scared as we are is bizarre. What does a creature like him feel when killing people?

“I found Owen and Blue. They’re on the roof. I can’t call him for some reason.”

Zia closed her eyes. “Did you call anyone for help?”

“Wheatley called for backup already. Trouble is: we’re in the middle of nowhere and all the men he had outside patrolling the grounds have run off. The nearest town has no military base or even a decent sized police force.” The hacker scoffed. “The military wanted the project located here just so nobody would stumble onto it. They don’t give a shit about us.”

Zia nodded. “No backup, then. What’s wrong with the lockdown system?”

“It’s glitchy,” Franklin said. She could hear him typing. “New upgrade isn’t interfacing well with the older system. And I don’t have authorization to do manual override. I might be able to trick the system… hold on a second.”

Zia went up the stairs and tested the doors. Still locked. Suddenly, the metal sheets over the windows pulled back. Moonlight flooded the upper floors. 

“I did it!” Franklin said. “Owen and Blue can get in now.”

“Finally, some good news.”

“Oh god, Zia watch out!” 

She heard a door slowly open and whipped around. A sleek black head poked out of Maisie’s room. Zia dropped her phone and pulled out her weapons. The Indoraptor loomed impossibly large. Zia sprayed the canister of neurotoxin into his face. He swatted the can out of her hand before it was anywhere near to empty. Shaking his head, he leaned in so close they were nose-to-nose.  
She aimed the tranquilizer as the canister clanged onto the first floor below. The Indoraptor stepped even closer, grasped her arm, and guided her aim so that the darts struck the staircase. His motion was so smooth and powerful that she didn’t have time to react. 

Her face was pressed against the Indoraptor’s chest. She felt his other arm slip around her shoulders. With one hand in his iron grip and her entire body effectively pinned in place, she knew this was it. Just kill me quickly, she begged silently, shutting her eyes. And don’t use my body parts to lure anyone else to their deaths!

His blood-slicked snout gently rubbed against her cheek. Her ears filled with the sound of purring. She opened her eyes. “What? Why are you-”

The tranquilizer slid out of her hand. The Indoraptor backed into Maisie’s room with it, a hint of an amused smile on his face. The door closed.

For a moment, she stood there, mouth agape. Then the door swung open again. Maisie’s head popped out. 

“Wh-where have you been?” Zia’s voice came out shriller than she would have liked. “I’ve been running around all over trying to find you!”

“I’ve been here like Owen told me to,” Maisie said. Zia felt incredibly stupid. “It’s okay. You don’t have to worry.”

Once more, Zia felt a million questions bubble up all at once. She didn’t know which one to ask first. Her mouth moved but no sound came out.

Maisie continued, “After a while, these metal plates came down over the windows and I got really scared. I hid in the pulley elevator until they went back up. I saw Owen and Blue outside at the east wing. He gave me a thumbs-up. So I opened my door to go to him and Ripper came in all covered with blood. I was checking him for injuries when you tried to attack him. Why did you do that?”

“Because he’s been going around killing people!” Zia said. “He killed most of Wheatley’s men. I don’t understand why he didn’t kill me.”

Maisie’s eyes widened, then she cocked her head. “You’re nice to him. Isn’t that obvious?”

A strong wind rattled the windows. Zia thought she could hear someone outside shouting and then the Indoraptor’s high-pitched shriek pierced the air. Maisie covered her ears.  
“I don’t understand,” Zia said slowly. “Why is this happening?”

Maisie took a deep breath. “Revenge.” She pushed the door further open. Zia could see the doors to the balcony were slightly ajar. A breeze ruffled the sheer curtains. The tranquilizer gun, empty of darts, lay by Maisie’s bed. “Wheatley’s up there waiting for him.”  
Zia looked from the balcony to Maisie. “That’s it, isn’t it?” she breathed. “The Indoraptor did all this to reach Wheatley. How long have you known?” 

“Forever,” the girl answered. “I’ve seen them fight. I watch Ripper during training. The military makes him do it, but I think he understands that if he goes through it he can use what he learns to beat them. That’s why he never gave up.” She looked down at the floor. “What are you going to do?”

Zia began to laugh. “What can I do? I don’t have any more weapons. I came to get you so you could talk him into behaving!” 

Maisie shook her head. “I’m bonded to him, but I don’t control him.” She turned back to the balcony. Zia looked over the girl’s shoulder and thought she saw a dinosaur too small to be the Indoraptor creeping across the roof. 

If that’s Blue, then Owen is on his way. Zia’s eyes lit up. Nobody can handle an angry raptor like he can. We might have a chance after all.

As if the girl had read her mind, Maisie said, “Last chance.”

Zia climbed the slanted, gabled roof. Rain soaked her hair and clothes. Off to her right, the main hall with its glass roof was the only source of light in the storm. Two human figures stood on one end. It was too dark to see more than silhouettes, but they had to be Wheatley and Owen holding a tranquilizer. On the opposite end, the Indoraptor crept toward them. She guessed from his sluggish, shaky movements that the hybrid was reeling from the effects of the neurotoxin. Wheatley had something in one hand, which he waved at the Indoraptor. Zia couldn’t tell what it was. 

His voice rang out over the rain, “You want me, you ugly bastard? Here I am!”

The Indoraptor screeched and leaped towards him. Wheatley pointed the object he held straight at his attacker. A small circle of light lit up the hybrid’s face. Owen fired. 

The Indoraptor instinctively recoiled. Whether from the light in his eyes or the tranquilizer, his aim failed. Instead of landing on the two men, he went through the glass right in front of them. At least, that’s what it looked like. Lightning flashed and Zia saw the Indoraptor clung to a solid beam. He began to pull himself up.

Wheatley stepped forward and kicked the Indoraptor’s face. He slammed his boots down on the hybrid’s claws. An unearthly wail filled the air. Zia’s eyes widened as she realized it was almost over. 

A grey blur hopped onto the roof and sped past Owen. Before anyone could react, Blue covered the short distance between her and Wheatley, claws extended. She shoved Wheatley so hard that he lost his balance. The militant fell screaming through the hole in the roof. 

After a moment, lightning flashed again. Zia couldn’t see the Indoraptor’s claws anymore. Wheatley’s momentum must have knocked the hybrid off, if his strength hadn’t simply given out.

Blue and Owen peered down through the hole. Slowly, the raptor’s head drooped.


	11. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire returns to California. Owen and Zia must come to terms with the events at Lockwood Manor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are at last! I wasn't sure I was going to make it. Don't go away. There's a postscript afterwards.

Three months later…

“Here you go, Miss,” the security guard handed Claire back her ID. She thanked him and walked through the fence door of the Wildlife Waystation in Sylmar, California. The rescue center was famous for its big cats and had quietly made a name for itself as the first to take in dinosaurs. She entered the visitor center and told the volunteer behind the desk who she was. “Are Owen Grady or Zia Rodriguez here?” Claire asked.

“Oh, yeah,” the volunteer said. “Hold on, I’ll go get them.”

He walked out the door, his gaze lingering on Claire as he walked out. She smiled and shook her head. Some things never change, she thought. 

A moment later, the back door swung open. The volunteer was back. “Here they are.” 

Owen walked in still dressed in the same leather vest with unkempt hair. Once more, his face lit up when he saw her. “Well, look who’s back!” He held out his arms.

“That’s me,” she said. They embraced. 

“So, did you get fired already?” he teased.

“It’s called vacation days. You should try some,” she jabbed back. 

Zia walked in, and Claire’s smile faded. The veterinarian looked haggard, her expression a mixture of pure exhaustion and terror. Her hair was even messier than Owen’s and mud caked her clothes.

“Are you okay?” Claire asked hesitantly.

Zia didn’t answer right away. She looked over her shoulder as if expecting an attack. Her voice came out scratchy, “I’ve been better.”

Another woman came in and started talking to the volunteer. Owen said, “let’s discuss this somewhere else.”

He led them through the back door to the animal enclosures. Claire had never seen so many tigers, lions, and jaguars in one place. There were also a fair number of wolves, raccoons, and smaller animals. They paced, slept, or simply eyed her wearily. Owen found an empty bench for them to sit on next to a cage full of baby sloths. 

“Aww,” Claire said. The sloths watched her with bright, alert eyes. They stretched out their little claws. “What are they doing?”

“They’re hungry,” Zia said. “But I think they’ve been fed already. Little babies just wanna get fat.”

The three of them took in the view for a moment, breathing in the dusty air and feeling the sun on their skin. Sylvan county’s flat plains stretched as far as the eye could see, golden in afternoon light. 

“Why are you here?” Zia asked timidly. She sounded completely different from the brash woman Claire remembered. 

“To see you guys again,” Claire answered. “To find out what happened at Lockwood manor. Not long after I moved to Georgia, I got a visit from the feds. They wanted to know if any Lockwood staff still kept contact with me. I had to tell them about our weekend chats.” She couldn’t help but crack a smile. It had been funny to talk those two very serious agents about her long-distance love life. “But that wasn’t what they were hoping for. Not sure what they expected to get from an ex-marketing agent. I did hand the evidence over. They’ll be having a field day with it, I imagine.”

Owen nodded. Zia absently checked her phone. Claire wondered what happened to her and, as Owen told the tale, looked at the veterinarian with new sympathy and understanding. No wonder she can’t focus on what we’re saying. It would bring too many memories back.

“In the end, the only military staff left were the two animal experts, Farris and Domeck. Apparently, the Indoraptor never touched them. They’d been shot by their own.”

“Their fellow soldiers shot them?” Claire repeated.

“Wheatley sent some men outside to watch the buyers’ vehicles and collect evidence. They went AWOL as soon as things got hairy. Farris and Domeck made the mistake of reminding them to do their jobs.” He shook his head. “They’re in critical condition but still alive. All in all, sixty-three people died that night. Fifty-seven of those the Indoraptor killed trying to escape.”

“My god,” Claire said.

“Well, the good news is: Operation Dinoforce is gonna close down. No, that’s not its real name. It should be,” Owen said.

“That’s not funny, Owen,” Claire said. 

He looked pained. “I know. Sorry. It’s just how I deal with… stuff,” he finished lamely. He stared at his boots for a moment. “So, we started looking for a new place for Blue and that’s how we ended up here. It’s only temporary. These people are wonderful, but they’re not equipped for this.”

A faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Well, have I got good news for you.” She handed him a business card. 

“Dinosaur Protection Group,” he read. “Based in California.” He lowered the card. “Where’d this come from?”

“Me. I’m a co-founder and sponsor,” she said. “You haven’t heard about all the dinosaurs turning up?”

“I heard Mount Sibo erupted. No more Nublar. Donald Trump is still president. Other than that, I’m kind of in need of a break from reality.”

“I understand,” Claire went on to explain. “There’s so many dinosaurs around the world it’s become something of a crisis. I’ve gotten calls from people I’ve never met asking me how to deal with them. I suppose it never crossed these people’s minds that maybe former Jurassic World staff aren’t the ones to ask. So, I partnered up with animal shelter volunteers in NorCal and my alma mater to open the DPG. When it’s complete, the center will be a safe habitat for dinosaurs to live in.” She rolled her eyes. “We’ve already got a line of desperate owners ready to leave their pets with us.”

Owen smiled sardonically. “Somewhere all those guys who survived the original Jurassic Park are laughing. Or banging their heads against a wall.”

“Probably banging,” Zia muttered. 

Owen swallowed. “Well, if you’re going to take Blue in, I suppose now’s time for the surprise.”

Claire raised an eyebrow. Owen said nothing and gestured for her to follow. They walked a winding route to the furthest enclosure. Several vehicles had been positioned to make it hard to see what was inside. Tarps covered half the space, creating shade for the occupants. From its size, she guessed it used to house elephants. He led them to a spot where they would have a clear view. Claire’s gaze fell on a small figure inside.

Maisie stood with her arms outstretched. She looked over at them and waved. Then she returned to her former pose, curling her fingers. “Come on Ripper. I have bacon.”

Claire’s eyes widened when a sleek black head emerged from under a tarp. “I thought he died. He hit the Triceratops skull, didn’t he?” Her breathing sped up. More of the hybrid’s body emerged as he hobbled into the light. He looked even thinner than he had been before. His tail was little more than a stump.

“Yes,” Zia said flatly. “He did, after he landed on Wheatley. He managed to avoid getting his skull split on one horn. But the other horn went straight through his tail. Wu gave him genes to regenerate his limbs, so it’ll grow back.” 

“Is he safe?” She felt the hybrid’s cold gaze on her. Then he went back to watching the bacon and took another step forward. Blue emerged from under the tarp as well, supporting her son’s flank by pressing against him.

“Yeah,” Owen said. “Hasn’t given anybody trouble. Not a big surprise since all we’ve done is try to help him recover.”

“He’s always cooperative with me,” Zia said. “I think he knows that we don’t mean to hurt him. I’m still terrified of him.”

“That’s…good.” Claire’s gaze bounced between the two groups trying to take it all in. Too many questions fought for her attention. Zia looked at her and gave her a knowing, crooked smile.   
As they watched the hybrid struggle, one question came to the forefront. “I don’t get it. Wheatley treated him like shit for most of his life. That’s all he knows. Why is he so determined to live?” 

Zia laughed. It sounded a little too high and brassy, but Claire could tell she meant it. 

“Do tell,” Claire said.

Owen smiled.“He’s got two wonderful beings still in his life. His old enemy is dead. He’s surrounded by people who want to help him. I think as far as he’s concerned, life is looking up.” 

Maisie waved the bacon and cheered. “Almost there!” Blue nudged the hybrid and cooed. Her gaze wandered to them for a moment, and then focused elsewhere. Claire thought Blue was trying to avoid looking at the bacon. It made her chuckle. She turned back to Owen. “Well, when you’re done taking a break from life, the DPG’s gonna need a behavior specialist.” She leaned a little closer and whispered, “And I’ll need a man.”

Owen’s eyes widened. “Okay.”

“So, ready for a new start?”

He grinned. “Sure. As your dinosaur behavior specialist.” 

Her mouth dropped open. He chuckled and said, “just kidding. I’m game for both.”

“Jerk,” she punched his arm. He pulled her in for a kiss.

They heard jaws snap. “You got it!” Maisie cried. 

The freaking end


	12. Postscript

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The author blabs about the creation process.

So, you have made it to the end of this story. I appreciate that you have dedicated your time to reading this story of all stories. Perhaps if I am very lucky, you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

JWFK: The Different Story began with a desire for a character driven JW story and sort of evolved into its own thing. It was originally going to be a parody, but I saw plenty of good parodies and critiques of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom on Youtube, so I took a different route. We all know Crichton’s cautionary message: Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. The consequences aren’t always worth it. To his message I would add: respect a person’s value. We humans manipulate our way to success. We can do this to objects because they don’t have wills or feelings. However, we have major problems when we try to exploit creatures or people smart enough to understand what we’re up to. Their response is usually to be pissed and lash out. Jurassic Park was more of a nature’s wrath tale. I wanted The Different Story to be personal and add something unique to the franchise.

On Claire

One of the greatest challenges I had with JWFK: The Different Story is that I didn’t know what to do with Claire. A straight-laced businesswoman seems out of place running around dinosaur-infested areas. When a character is put in a situation they are ill-equipped to handle, they often come across as incompetent. To make her fit the movie’s action sequences, the scriptwriters made sure she performed as good as any action hero, but made zero effort to establish her credibility as one. About the same amount of effort went into explaining why she suddenly loves dinosaurs. I wanted to let her shine in the field she does best and allow her personality to evolve naturally. That means more scenes with characters interacting under more normal circumstances. Of course, we love JP for its dinosaurs. But if the human characters are so uncompelling that we don’t care if they get eaten or not, what’s the point? I wanted Claire’s motives to move the plot even as external factors constrain her actions. If I swapped her out with someone else from the JP franchise, things wouldn’t have played out the same way. That’s what makes a character relevant.

On Owen

Owen was much easier to work with. His motives throughout the story are easy to understand and feel genuine. Unlike Claire, he doesn’t change much in the story or the movie. His resilient attitude and perhaps even more importantly, his understanding of the lesson behind JP, make change unecessary. The only thing related to his character that the movie let me down on is that the relationships with Blue and Claire aren’t allowed to mature. They never seem to go beyond what was there to begin with. 

On Mills and Wheatley

Villains are fun to write. These two were certainly plot drivers, although the reasons behind their motives remain shrouded in mystery. Mills is a villain for the humans to defeat and Wheatley is one for the dinosaurs. I tried to give them deaths I felt were appropriate for their characters. Both have backstories, but neither story is very relevant to the plot. I don’t care that Mills was chosen to manage Lockwood’s finances right out of college and thus feels entitled to everything he wants. The movie gives him this backstory, but it really doesn’t matter why a villain is evil if there is no chance of him or her having a change of heart. Without that possibility, the villain will always oppose the heroes when given a chance until he or she is defeated. These two are that type of villain: zealots for their respective causes. The only thing that binds them is a contract. Outside of that, they have very different priorities. I have no idea why the military would want to sell dinosaurs on the black market. They usually want to keep new technology secret. Business tends to work better when it can sell to as many people as possible. I kept expecting this to come up as a source of conflict in the movie and was flabbergasted as to why it didn’t. 

On Wu

I had the sense he had a proper respect for scientific procedure and wasn’t as greedy as the other villains, but he was still illegally creating dinosaurs for profit. For those who say he’s a mad scientist, I say Wu didn’t need to be evil to play the role he did. His circumstances pretty well trapped him into doing evil deeds. The idea of a once prideful scientist learning his lesson is much more compelling than a Dr. Frankenstein knock-off once again getting his comeuppance. This Victorian sci-fi trope is a cliché at this point. Just as Claire and Owen’s characters suffered because they were unable to grow or change, so did Wu’s. I wanted to see what would happen if he were given a chance to follow his conscience. As for his skills as a scientist, Wu doesn’t quite hit the nail on the head with the Indoraptor, but he definitely improves. That’s as much as a human can hope for.

On Maisie 

Can you say glorified plot device? I liked Maisie, but she hardly needed to be in the movie. When Mills revealed her secret I said, “so what?” Maisie has always been a clone. Learning her true nature never came into play until the very end. My biggest problem with her role in JWFK was that she is a quiet, unassuming character. Such characters are ill-suited to dramatic gestures like the one the script forced her to make. I decided to give her a role similar to Lilo from Lilo & Stitch. I think it’s a role that not only suits her but one she would genuinely enjoy.

On the Indoraptor and Blue 

As much as I love Blue, throughout the whole movie I was thinking, “isn’t she too old for this?” JWFK really suffered from scriptwriters forcing characters to behave in ways that didn’t suit them. Blue was no exception. And don’t even get me started on Rexy. Blue is twice the age she was in JW and Rexy’s about thirty now. These poor dinosaurs wouldn’t survive being kidnapped from Nublar and multiple fights in their twilight years. Like so many other fans, I wished the scriptwriters had skipped the plot armor and just give the characters something they can handle or else let them die when they fail to do so. 

Blue’s role as a mother is mostly off-screen. The chapter from the Indoraptor’s perspective hopefully gets across the idea that Blue taught him what she thought he would need to survive. She cared for him as best as she could and as all good mothers do, came to his aid when he needed her most. Between her nurturing and Maisie’s friendship, the Indoraptor has the potential in him to be good as well as evil. Defeating the villains puts him squarely in the hero category but his methods make it hard to see him a “good” character.

In the movie, the Indoraptor isn’t given a satisfactory reason to be the way he was. All we have to explain his monstrous behavior is a vague statement from Wu saying, “He needs a mother”. If Wu thought this is so crucial, why didn’t he demand the military capture Blue years ago? I started thinking about how the story would go if Blue were the Indoraptor’s mother and that sort of dragged the other characters along for the ride. I was also inspired by a story in the news about a hunter catching a tiger in a trap. The tiger escaped, went in the hunter’s house while he was out, and then killed him once he returned. This story has the double benefit of being true and giving the Indoraptor a solid motive we humans can understand. We have no idea what thoughts might go through a dinosaur’s head. But there are certain traits and behaviors all animals share with humans. At his heart, the Indoraptor is playful. We see a little bit of that in the movie with his smirk. He is self-motivated but pulled by instinct. He responds to cruelty with cruelty and kindness with kindness. He had a life shaped by the people around him. A life I decided at the last moment shouldn’t be cut short by a Triceratops skull.

So, there you have it. I have no idea where the franchise is going to go from here. I hope what JW3 will blow my socks off. And if it doesn’t, you’ll likely never see a JW fan fiction from me again. I have written a JP parody. I know Jurassic Park has been parodied to death at this point, but mine is intended to work as a standalone sci-fi as well as a parody. After this, I think I will stick to drawing dinosaurs because there are only so many ways to bring them back and I’m pretty sure they’ve all been done before.

Bonus fact: Like the Indoraptor, I am always hungry.

**Author's Note:**

> You're still here? The show's over. Go home. Don't forget to leave a review first.


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